


5 Times Peter Parker Disobeyed Tony Stark

by LannieBae



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Bullying, F/M, Fluff, Hurt Peter, Hurt/Comfort, I will add tags as I go, IM COMING BACK BITCHES, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, falling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2018-12-24 16:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 36,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12016401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LannieBae/pseuds/LannieBae
Summary: And the 1 time Tony disobeyed him.---------------------------------------------Tony has only ever tried to look out for Peter, but said stubborn 15-year-old makes it rather difficult to keep him in check.





	1. The Opposite Operation

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first fan fiction on this website, so I do hope you enjoy :D

1.

The day had started out pretty normal; as do most days. Most people don’t finish their day off fighting crime in a tight high tech spandex suit, but for peter that was normal. But the day hadn’t ended exactly how he had expected it to.

Him and Ned were on their lunch break when he got the news. 

“So I took this poll online, to-“ Ned paused as the two boys squeezed through the swarming crowds of students to get to the cafeteria. When they burst through the doors and finally separated from the tsunami of other teenagers, they sat in their usual place, and Ned continued,

“To see which star wars character I would be-“

He quickly rummaged in his trouser pocket for his phone and pulled it out and was already drumming in his passcode. No one as supposed to go on their phones in school, but what the hell? Everybody did anyway.

“And I got Jar Jar binks! I mean, come on, I’m clearly more of a Han solo guy, right?” Ned asked as if he disapproved, but the hyperactive child within him was clearly showing on his face. Peter just giggled (in a very manly way, off course) and tugged out his phone.

“Take the test! Take it- I think it was on- wait let me find it…” Ned typed furiously into his new, and already very broken Stark phone.

Peter had managed to persuade Mr. Stark into giving Ned a Stark phone; not that Tony needed much persuading, he would do pretty much anything for the kid to make sure he and his friends were happy- but Peter knew he wouldn’t admit that.

He started typing into his own phone,

“Hey, was it Buzzfeed?” Ned shook his head, engrossed in his mission to find the website.  
Peter scrolled a little further, “Was it on Zimbio?”

“Yes! Take it- I wanna see who you get.” Ned leaned over like an eager child and peter didn’t try to hide his own excitement as he began answering questions.

“What loser- related stuff is it now, losers?” Michelle slapped her lunch tray down on the table in a I-couldn’t-give-a-rats-ass-if-that-was-too-loud-for-you-losers sort of way. She wore her signature smirk.

Just as Ned and Peter both opened their mouths to answer, she held up her hands and said, “Hang on a second... I forgot that I didn’t care.” She laughed lightly and whipped out her bible of a romance book and stuck her head straight into it. Occasionally taking a bite from her apple.

Peter couldn’t help but notice how the small curls of her hair slipped ever so slowly and fell into her line of sight, and then as she brushed them behind her ear. She was always reading, was that why she was so smart? Did she absorb all the knowledge from everything she read? Her eyes seemed to scan the words so fast-

“Ohh would you look at that, Parker’s got a cruuushhh.” Peter recognised the voice immediately and his head snapped back to face said person; Flash.  
He was standing along with some of his equally short yet over-confident friends, a smirk playing across their lips. They had caught him staring at MJ. Shit.

“Get lost, flash.” Ned huffed out at the bully and turned back around to grab his pack lunch from his school bag with the intention of ignoring him. Peter, however, stared back.

“I wasn’t staring. I-I Just spaced out… A little bit distracted, That’s all.” Flash wasn’t buying it, and just strode past him, but as peter turned his head around Flash casually smacked him upside the head to annoy him. 

“Hey, Mrs. Jones, I’d watch out for Penis over there!” He snickered and continued to pick on the other vulnerable kids in the room.

Peter looked back at Mj and attempted to cover his case,  
“I wasn’t- I swear- “

“Yeah, yeah Parker, I don’t care anyway.” But then she did the unexpected. She gave him a reassuring smile and returned to her book. Peter felt as if he should have been honoured; He was to be fair.

To distract himself he grabbed his own lunch out of his bag and went back to his phone. Before he continued the test though, he remembered his notifications.

Ned and him together had managed to connect Peter’s phone to the immediate news and hacked into the police systems (With a lot of help from the technology inside of the Spiderman suit. Technology can do anything these days) so that his phone would alert him of any immediate dangers that required Spiderman’s presence. Sure, the old couple trying to cross the street might have to wait until he’s done with school, but an alien invasion or a monster from outer space attacking New York? Yes, he could afford to miss a lesson or two.  
But he hadn’t expected there to be anything serious, per usual. Which is why he found himself staring, unblinking, at the huge header that topped his phone screen.

**MASS OF CIVILIANS ATTACK THE STARK TOWER - AVENGERS ON SITE**

He read on further. 

The Attack has been going on since 9:34 this morning. A group of New York civilians, up to 100, have been attacking the Stark tower with all sorts of military guns and equipment. The avengers, or at least whats left of them, have been on site for the past hour attempting to tear people away from the building and to hand them over to the police, and appear to be trying their very best not injure any local civilians.

Peter was aware at this point that ned was looking over at is phone screen as well, and as peter scrolled down to the view the picture beneath, they both stared, their mouths agape.

It was a picture taken what appeared to be a safe distance away from the tower, but from even there the damage was obvious. The weapons the civilians were using looked to be weapons you would have to buy illegally. 

“That’s insane…where did they get those weapons?” Ned asked in disbelief.

“I have no idea…” Peter honesty couldn’t settle on an answer, but they weren’t going to be able to talk about this in the open for much longer.

“Bathroom?” Ned asked quickly. Peter gave a swift nod in reply. 

They packed their lunch in the bags, tossed them over their shoulders and hurried off the boy’s bathroom.  
Peter couldn’t believe there were civilians with access to such dangerous and military purposed weapons. They must have gotten them from the black market or some terrorist group? The most likely scenario was a mystery, but there were a lot of weapons.  
Although Tony Stark had moved to the Stark Compound just three weeks ago, he still held the contract for the Stark Tower. And what if things got out of hand and innocent people ended up injured or maybe worse? Of course, the Avengers would be on sight.

When Ned and he got to the bathroom, they locked the door, ignoring all the school’s rules about ‘Not locking or isolating any rooms that are not supervised by a teacher.’ They were lucky that all the stalls were empty and that they were alone, but they would have to be quick.

“Oh my gosh! W-what are you gonna do? You have to do something, right? I mean, - “

“Ned, Chill Dude.” Peter couldn’t stop his voice from quivering slightly though, “I- I don’t know…”

He scrolled further down, and there were a few interviews with some frightened local civilians. The time was 10:48 and class started again in 12 minutes.

“Why are they attacking?” Ned looked to Peter as if he had an answer.

“How am I supposed to know? It could be because of some government shit, it could be to do with the accord thingy, heck, it could be anything.”

He and Ned shared a glance, a silent acknowledgement seemingly passing between them. 

Peter rushed to get his rucksack off his back and pulled out his jumper. Carefully wrapped inside was non-other then his Spiderman Suit. He changed in a bathroom stall faster than thought possible, stuffing his clothes into his school bag as he exited the stall.  
Ned was refreshing the news to keep up with all that was going on. When peter came out, he pointed to himself and murmured,

“I-is this a Guy-in-the-chair occasion?” He sounded hopefully, and It broke Peters heart to say no.

“Sorry buddy, you’ve got to stay in school and you can’t do this during in the lesson. But next time, I promise.” He tapped his right ear. The boys had wired a second communication device and attached it to the inside of the suit, and Peter already had a com connected to the suit in his left ear, for contacting with the Avengers, or whoever was on Tony’s good side.

Ned raised his fists in excitement and did a small dance. “Wait- What will Tony Stark- Oh my god Tony Stark- say about you turning up?” 

Peter hadn’t thought about that. What would Mr. Stark say? He would probably be annoyed, ever since Peter turned down his offer to become an avenger, Tony had seemed to come to a realisation that Peter just wasn’t ready. Mentally, but also physically. Peter may be agile and have super strength, but his get immaturity made him vulnerable, and he could quite easily get hurt.  
Did peter care? Nope. All he cared about was the saving the civilians and helping to try and stop these people before they tore the tower down, creating more destruction. He would feel responsible; he always does.

“I have to go Ned; innocent people could die.”

Ned nodded, but continued,  
“Maybe you should just call him, just to be on the safe side?” Peter knew Ned also just really wanted to hear Tony on the phone- Hell he would be just as excited see Peter on the phone talking to the Iron Man himself.

Part of Peter told him to stop wasting time and get out there, but he knew it would be safer to check with him first. So, he scrolled through his contacts until his finger was hovering over the contact that read Tony Stark. 

He had never called him before; it was always Happy he called, but this was very important, and it was immediate.  
So even though he was probably going to stutter and embarrassed himself, he pressed call.

It rung a few times before he picked up.  
Peter slapped his hand on the phone and lowered so Tony wouldn’t hear him

“I didn’t think he would pick up!” He hissed to Ned, who just shook his hand at the phone in an effort to get him to talk to him.

“Hello? Peter! Are you there?”

“U-Uh Hey Mr. Stark!”

“Kid, seriously? I’m a little busy- “A long pause and a loud crash in the background. When tony spoke again, he sounded like he was rushing, “This is not a good time, and aren’t you at school? What the hell are you doing- “

“There’s a big battle going on, I know- I’m gonna come join you…” There was another rather pregnant pause.

“Oh, you are, are you?” He said in his Nope-absolutely-not tone, “You are gonna stay right where you are! Do you know how- “A load of bashing and grunts before he spoke again, “-Pissed your Aunt would be if I let you come into this? I told her- I promised her I would make sure you stay close to the ground- “

“I know- I know Mr. Stark, but- “

“No Buts, Stay in school. Goodbye.” The call ended abruptly.

Ned and Peter shared another glance. The phone wasn’t on speaker, but Ned could hear the conversation from Tony raised voice, as he tried to speak over the noise of the battle.

“You’re still going, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, obviously.”

Peter didn’t like the idea of disobeying Mr. Stark, but the thought that innocent civilians could get hurt or killed if he didn’t help ruled out the previous one. He took a few big bites out of his Ham and cheese sandwich. He finished his sandwiches in a minute, as Ned tried to pry one of the bathroom windows open.

Peter could have easily punched it and Brocken the thick, dirty glass, no problem. But the last thing they needed was people on their trail. So, when Ned dislodge the window, he pushed it as far as it could go and peter patted him on the back with his thanks. Luckily the window wasn’t too high up, and could be reached easily from standing on the toilet seat.

There was a knock on the bathroom door and someone on the other side shouted for them to open it up.

“Hurry up, and squeeze through. You can fit through there, right?”

“Barely… Im good, keep in touch!” Peter replied once he was out. Squeezing through the bathroom window was certainly not one of his most heroic acts, but that wasn’t the first thing on Peters mind at that moment. He had entrusted Ned with his backpack and phone, which he had the intention of grabbing at beds place after school finished.

And he was off.

Once peter was gone, Ned swung a rucksack over each shoulder and hurried to unlock the bathroom door. There was a crowd of boys behind the door, all looking and Ned which unamused faces.

Caught and not sure how to explain his situation, again. Unfortunately, there were no computers in the bathroom, so watching porn wasn’t a great excuse this time (A Phone screen he figured was pointlessly small)

“Sorry… i-I, uh, Needed a little privacy.” He offered unsure, followed by a shrug.  
He wasn’t sure why he needed the privacy, but most of the boys seemed to find an answer for him.  
They smiled and some of them patted him on the back as they pushed past him to enter the bathroom. Abe stopped in front of him, and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

“That takes some courage, um.. but not too often, don’t wanna make any one suspicious.” He gave him a smile, and passed him to use the bathroom.

“Thanks, I guess…” Ned exited the bathroom and got about half way down the hall before he caught on,

“Wait WHAT?”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tony was not having a good day. No, Infact so far, his day had been pretty crap. He woke up to his phone going crazy, as FRIDAY must have let the messages come through; they must have been important. When he found out that his Tower, which he still had the blasted contract for, was being torn down a highly and unexpectedly violent protest, he fumed and didn’t hesitate to scrape together what he had left to fight with. 

When he discovered that the protesters were not only regular civilians, but starting to rip up the foundations with- what were they, canons?- he panicked. They were on the scene in a matter of minutes, but they were struggling. Against a few civilians.

And that annoyed him even more. The fact they were trying not to injure anyone made it all the more difficult.

But he was tipped over the edge when the kid called. The respectfully-smart yet stupidly-stubborn Peter Parker. He could only hope that he didn’t turn up and stayed in school, like he had specifically told him to do so. You’d think if he was that smart he would know not to put his life at risk on such a large scale, or at least listen to the Iron man?

“Tons, what happened? You spaced out there.” Tony heard Rhodeys voices come from the coms and echo through his helmet.

“Kids,” Tony mumbled, “Nothing, we need to find a way to get these weapons away from these people- Or at least tune down some of the destruction they’re doing by isolating the parts if the building they are surrounding.”

“We’ve Evacuated all the people from the Stark tower, correct?” Natasha’s voice came next. 

Although she did go against the law, and is defiantly trying to stay out of the way of the government, she still signed the accords. Whether she was still considered an ally to the government, they weren’t sure, but with dangers like this, her presence was necessary. The rest of the Avengers were probably hiding away in a secure area, far from the situation.

“Yes, like half an hour ago, keep up sweetie.” Starks Snarky reply echoed through her com, and she couldn’t help but smirk.

“Im a highly trained assassin with a supporting background that suggests I could snap your neck in two whiles simultaneously finishing off your shawarma, so a question couldn’t do you much harm, could it sweetie? “

A chuckle came from the coms, 

“Good one Romanoff.”

They continued to evacuate people in the surrounding areas, as Vision started blasting the weaponry so they were deemed safe and useless. Once he had disarmed the civilian, War Machine or Iron man would sweep in scoop up the civilian and hand them over as quickly as possible to the police.

But at some point, they broke into the building and started doing the destruction from the inside. And that created problems.  
The elevator was in perfect condition, and they could use it to spread themselves around the tower. 

The Avengers slipped inside some of the openings, with the intent of ambushing the protesters. Why they were protesting was anyone’s guess. It could have been to get back at the government considering they were planning to buy the property and make it a public centre, it could have been because they weren’t amused by Tony’s actions in their little ‘civil war’, they may not have even been everyday civilians, considering most of them wore very concealing clothing, but again, it was anyone’s guess to make. 

They had been searching carefully for the civilians for over a half an hour, and although they were trying to lay low and quite, help was necessary 

“FRIDAY, which of the levels can you detect heat signatures?” FRIDAY was no longer connected to the towers circuitry system, and although Tony could easily connect his AI, he didn’t need to, his suit was powerful enough on its own.

“There a heat signatures sourced from all floors between floor 2 to 24, multiple signatures specifically on floors 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 15, 16, 22, 23, 24, and one more single heat signature has just transported onto floor 31. Sir.”

Tony sighed in frustration. He had had Natasha and Rhodey scout between floors 50 and 93 for the past half hour. 

“Rhodes, Natasha, vision? Turns out the protesters are spread out between levels 2 and 31, but that may change if we don’t hurry. Make your way to those levels. Natasha, vision, you proceed to disarm all civilians. Rhodey and I will scoop them up and turn them into the police.”

He got a sequence of replies from the group, and was about to move to one of the levels occupied by a heat signature, when-

“Hey, Mr. Stark!”

Tony’s heat skipped a beat. Of course, he would turn up.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Hey, Mr. Stark!”  
Peter had made his way over to the stark tower in under 20 minutes (which included a few stops to prevent some more minor crimes, of course) and the first thing he noticed was the big gapping holes that lined the bottom half of the stark tower. The crowd around the outside was a lot less dense now, and was mainly police cars and officers. But peter could still here the sounds of crashing and heavy gunshots; which could only mean that the destruction was happening inside the tower now.

Which meant he was gonna have to scout for his mentor.

There were bits of rubble and material constantly falling from bits of the tower.

He scanned the first few floors until he ran into one of the avengers, but it wasn’t iron man; it was vision.

So badass, peter reminded himself and he watched vision levitate around the room, and it didn’t take long for Vision to spot Spider-Man.

“Ahh, you must the Spider-Man?” Vision made his way over, still levitating a few inches off of the ground.

Peter was dumbfounded. He knows who Spider-Man is? Spider-Man had been all over the news, but to be recognised like that? He Wanted to fanboy so bad, but he kept his cool,

“Yeah, what’s up?” He crossed his arms and pushed his chest out a little, but he could see the Vision smirking lightly; he’d never assumed that the guy had had any sort of sense of emotion, never mind a humoured side or a cheek.

“Stark talks fondly of you, though he has never revealed your identity.”

Peter felt a little burst of butterflies in his stomach. He knew that Mr. Stark cared about him, but he talked about him, and kept his identity safe for him? Peter found just a little bit more respect for the man, which one could say was practically impossible considering how much Peter idolised Tony.

“Uh, y-yeah, I like keeping low to the ground. You know, uh, looking out for the little guys.” 

He gave him a thumbs up, which vision either didn’t or pretended not to see.  
“From what I overheard, you were not supposed to come here.”

Crap. He didn’t even consider that any of the other avengers would hear through their coms.

“Uh, no, I’m supposed to be here.. I need to find Mr. S- Tony. I need to find Tony.”

“He scouting between floors 14 and 20 I believe.” And with that, vision sunk, mother freaking SUNK- straight through the floor. That was never going to become normal.

And after searching for another 7 minutes, he found Mr. Stark. He swung into the level from the outside, and now they were here.

Tony stared at Spider-Man for a millisecond, registering his own disbelief. The kid had literally just ignored him, even when Peter himself had called him to check if it was okay.

“What. On. Earth. Are. You. Doing?” Tony was clearly trying to contain his frustration

“Uh, I just came here to- uh Mr. Stark?” Peters voice quickly deflated to a whisper.  
Tony was ready to bark out his reply when a gunshot sounded, alarming close to him. He could hear the bullet as I scraped he side of his helmet and was headed straight for Spider-Man’s head.

Of course, Peter having the proportional ability and senses of a spider, He bent his head to the left a little, easily dodging the bullet, but the automatically adjusting, currently wide, eye lenses of the suit expressed his reaction well enough.

Iron man whipped around, making his helmet faceplate slam back into place, which he had lifted when Peter had swung into the room. Standing about 30 foot infront of them, was a group of 3 of the civilians, all dressed in dark, concealing clothing, and ski masks and glasses, to hide their features. One of them was wheeling around a large canon like contraption, being far to heavy to carry, another with a machine gun, and the 3rd with a simple shotgun, but armed with a knife in the other hand.

And the weapons were pointed straight at Peter and Tony.

Tony raised his gauntlet and prepared to fire at the canon when a forth civilian came around from behind some of the rubble that had been blasted inwards.. He was a large guy, and it made the small hostage he had look all the more vulnerable. She looked to be no older then 25, and her expression was pained and begging.

“Take another step-“ the man pulled out a knife from his belt and stuck it right under the woman’s chin; she looked as if she wanted to scream, “She gets it.”  
Tony raised his hands in surrender.

“Look, we don’t want any trouble-“

“They all say that, you motherfu-“

“Not infront of the kid, please.” That plugged both groups in to silence. Neither sure how to respond. But Peters full attention was on the hostage. He couldn’t cope if this women got injured, Or worse, right infront of him where he could have done something about it.

“Karen, activate voice modifier.” Peter whispered,

“Certainly, Peter.” Karens voice echoed through the suit. Peter watched the civilians and the hostage carful as he asked.

“Why are you doing this?”

Peter could hear Tony snicker next to him; as if he had been waiting for the moment that he would get to hear peter use the interrogation voice. The civilians smirked in amusement, but the smallest one, and judging from her voice, a female, put on a serious face (or from what they could see through the cracks of the ski masks) and replied,

“We have a hostage, her life is at stake. I really don’t think we need to answer that.” She pointed her gun and Peters head, whiles the man with the machine gun aimed it at Iron Man.

“Now, you,” she jutted her chin at Tony, “Call the War Machine and the agent here. Our comrades have spotted them in the building, we know they are here.” The fact that the civilians were able to communicate between each other probably meant they had some kind of shared technical device between them.

Tony hesitantly made the command,  
“Rhodey, Romanoff, change of plan. Come to level 17, I’ll explain when you get here.”

A pause, “On our way.” Natasha’s voice echoed through the coms.

A few minutes later, and uncomfortably cheery ding! Echoed through the empty room, despite the civilians, hostage, iron man, Spider-Man and the rubble. Natasha and Rhodey walked in, but both came to a halt when they caught on the situation.

“You two, join Stark and his little friend, but don’t dare advance towards us!” The woman pointed her knife at the hostage, as if it needed to be made more obvious what would happen.

“How many other hostages do you have?” Black widow demand, he voice didn’t falter, as she took her place besides Tony.

“You don’t need to know that.” This time it was the large man with the hostage that spoke, “Now your going to leave the building and leaving us to tear it apart.”

“We can’t let you put innocent people lives at risk!” Peter had completely forgotten about the voice, but the situation had dived a little to deep to make humour out of it.

“Let’s just say we care more about the pay then the nobodies. New York City is already over populated. Now move!” 

The crazy woman fired at shot in the air, and their hostage screamed in shock.

“I’ve got a better idea actually…” she offered a cruel smile, emotionless, “Move to the centre of the room. Gus, grab the chains, the vibranium ones, tie them together with the hostage in the centre.”

At that very moment, the elevator ding! Came from across the room, and some police men came through, yelling threats to the civilians, who all pointed their guns at the female hostage. The police stood there for a minute, before retreating back into the elevator. 

“Gee, thanks guys.” Tony murmured.

Peter was slowly advancing towards the civilians, but they were to occupied waiting for the elevator to open again to notice. 

But then the most thankful yet unexpected thing happened. What’s the point of Calling most of the avengers when you have forgotten about Vision.

Said crazy-powerful super hero came floating straight through the ground behind the civilians, and levitated ten feet above them.

“A little disappointed to see that I wasn’t invited.” The civilians whipped around to face him, but by then it was too late. He used the infinity gem embedded in his forehead to shoot and disable (more like obliterate) the weapons.

Peter went to work immediately. Webbing up the civilians and tiring them in a secure bundle. He propelled himself off the large mans shoulders and back flipped to land back next to Mr. Stark. Because may as well take every opportunity he can get to show off in front of the avengers, right?

He deactivated his voice modifier so he didn’t sound like a desperate idiot.

“That was fun, we should do this again sometime…” he gave the avengers behind him a thumbs up, but they just looked at him with questioning expressions.  
Well, he wasn’t sure about war machine, but he did give him a slight head tilt.

Tony called the police back to the floor, and they took away the civilians. They helped the woman who had been held hostage, made sure she was alright before guiding her to the elevator. Peter breathed a sigh of relief when Mr. Stark assured him that’s she was fine.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was 9:30 and it was dark, and drizzling. The water was thin but constant, the kind that could soak you in 10 minutes

The day had been very long, but since the avengers had been constantly busy, though it not being exactly enjoyable, time had sped by quite quickly.

The avengers and Spider-Man had spent a few hours clearing out the civilians and making sure there were no casualties, specifically of innocent people. The police took all the civilians in for questioning, as the ambulances and government offices filled the roads and surrounding areas around the ex- Stark tower.

Tony had taken Peter to get some clothes (he was thankful they weren’t hello kitty pjs a bottoms again) so he could keep his identity secret. May was working a late shift and hadn’t seen the news, so when Peter called her up and asks her to come and get him, she’d sounded rather worried, but he assured her it was fine.

He would have usually swung home, but the Avengers were requested to stay behind, so they could give details, which included Spider-Man. So here peter was, waiting for May to come pick him up.

He’d vaguely spoken to the other avengers. And now here he was, sitting on the ledge of an empty ambulance, wrapped in a blanket and watching as people moved around. He had helped out as much as he could, but now he was just waiting for Mr. Stark. 

For Tony to tell him off.

He knew was a practically a child to him, considering he was at least 35 years younger the him, but he still felt he had to fight for the responsibilities he refused to give up.

Because saving people lives, helping a lost couple with directions, returning stolen purses, even just checking in with the lonely shop assistant, that was his job. And he took pride in it.

As he and the avengers had taken to taking out the rest of the civilians, whilst being much more cautious, Peter slowly caught on that Tony really wasn’t happy with him. He almost thought that the fact that Spider-Man was there made the billionaire anxious.

The ambulance and police cars blue and red flashing lights left a mesmerising hue cast over the scene.

“Peter.”

Tony stood next to him, but Peter knew he was there. He slowly turned to look up at the older man.

“I-if you wanna yell at me, Mr. Stark… I understand, and-“

“Well, I don’t really want to yell at you, I’ve heard that’s not really the right way to treat and bring up kids like yourself,” Tony paused, as if what he had said came out wrong, “I mean, not that I have specifically looked it up, there’s no reason for me to know that, right? I just mean- Never mind. My point is, you disobeyed me.”

He walked around further so he was standing right infront of Peter. The boy gave a small nod. He had been expecting Stark to continue.

“I know.” His voice was quieter.

Tony raised an eyebrow, “Yes, well, That’s were things get a little more complicated. You knew what you were doing… Hell, you even called me up to check if it was okay for you to come!”

“Uh, I actually just called to tell you I was coming…” Peter was a little worried to how Mr. Stark would take that comment, but it was in fact just the blunt truth.

Tony pondered on that- it was far closer to the truth then he was prepared to admit.

“But you still neglected my command. In fact, I’m pretty sure I told you to stay in school and to not to come join us. What did you do?”

Peter felt like a child, so he looked up at Tony with the most confidence he could muster, “I left school to come join you guys. But you know why.”

Of course Tony knew why, but he attempted to play this out, “We are the avengers, you knew we had this under control! What did you think a 15 year old was going to be able to do anyway?” 

Peter found that a little hurtful. Were his powers that useless? His expression must have given him away though, because a brief and subtle wave of guilt washed over Tony’s face.

“Kid, you know what I meant,” another nod from Peter, “And I do know why you came. But you have to remember that we could have cleared out all the civilians just fine. Yes, it might have taken a little longer, but no one would have died because you weren’t there to save them.”

That wasn’t exactly true, no one could predict if there was going to be a casualty, which thankfully there hadn’t been. 

“You have to understand that the lives of all the New Yorkers don’t rest on your shoulders. You don’t have to carry that burden, you shouldn’t.”

Peter suddenly became very interested in his cheap pool sandals, dangling off the edge of his toes.

Tony looked down and smiled; it’s not everyday you find a such an innocent kid with a desire to save the world, putting their own life at risk.

“And hey, you don’t do that again.”

Peter looked up again, making eye contact. “Do what?”

Tony rolled his eyes, “You directly ignored my order. Leave school like that again-“ he made action to imitate him taking something from Peter and throwing it behind him, “The suit gets confiscated.” 

Truth be told, he would never actually do that, because the world needed Spiderman. But he needed a threat, and judging from Peters face, it had done the trick.

“Peter!”

Said boy turned in the direction of his Aunts voice, smiling to her as she made he way through all the police and the cars parked in the middle of the street. Tony patted him on the shoulder,  
“I’ll return your suit soon, I’m just going repair any tears and maybe update it a little.” And with that his mentor turned back to talk to some office who appeared to have been waiting for him.

When May came up to him, she took off the damp blanket encasing peter and pulled him into a full hearted hug.

“So,” she started once she had pulled away, “ How do you feel about Chinese tonight?” Peter grinned wide in reply as she guided him away to their car.


	2. The Parachute Problem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh I'm happier with this chapter then I am with the first :) Hope you enjoy!

2.

  
Queens was in quite a deep sleep that night, as the streets were rather trouble free. Peter had been on patrol ever since school had finished, and it was now 7: 49; he had only retrieved an engagement ring, stopped a mugging, said hello to a few little kids, and bought his signature sandwich from his favourite shop.

  
Eventful, eh?

  
He was sending the daily report voicemail to Happy,  
“Uh, Hi Happy, and I guess whoever else listens to this… a calm night, not much going on, signed a few autographs though! It was the best, to see those little kids faces light up like that- it really made my day…other then that, nothing really. Another three hours until curfew. So uh, I will be out here, doing stuff. So bye for now.” He hesitated, “Its Peter by the way… Parker.”

  
He finished off his extra-squashed sandwich, before dropping down into the alley where his backpack was, sliding his phone into the back pocket. He decided to expand his search into the areas around the queen borders.

  
Not a little over 10 minutes after swinging around the border, he asked,

  
“Karen, any activity around at the moment?”

  
“There seems to be party happening in an apartment on level 8 of the sunset apartments just two blocks from your current location.”

  
Peter rolled his eyes, but Karen continued,  
“My apologies, Peter. My scanners found an article on forms of humour for the appropriate situation, I thought I might attempt one. I take it it was unsatisfactory?”

  
Peter couldn’t help but laugh at his A.I trying to make a joke, “It was a great first attempt, Karen. But like, seriously?”

  
“Of course. There appears to be a elderly man being cornered by a group of young civilians in the alley 4 away and to your right. Sir.”

  
“Thank you!”

  
He really appreciated not only Karen’s help, but also her company. He always tried to be polite to her and have conversations with the A.I.

  
He swung to the destination of the crime, and there they were. The man was backing up against the wall, and as peter tuned in, he could hear that the man was trying to convince his captors that he had no money on him and he was strongly lacking in valuable items. But they weren’t buying it.

  
And this is we’re Spider-Man steps in.

  
“Hey guys, I see you’ve met my old man!” He somersaulted and landed next to the old man, and slung his arm around his shoulders. The older man coward slightly, and that set peter back on a more Serious note.

  
“Who are you guys? Who picks on poor old man like this guy here?”

  
“You're that spider guy?” One of the guys asked, a humorous tinge to his tone of voice.

  
“Oh good, so you know I’m gonna wrap you up and give you as a Christmas present to the police.”

  
He didn’t give the bad guys time to reply or even react as he shot a web, and then another, and then a third at all three muggers, quickly blinding them as the webbing stuck to their faces.

  
He then lurched forward and kicked the first guy in the jaw, sending him flying into the wall, were he webbed and secured him tightly in place.

  
The 2nd guy and the 3rd guy came at him simultaneously. He jumped an easy 10 feet in the air, Before jumping on the guy to his left, kicking his head head enough to knock him unconscious and possibly give him a concussion, but Peter had been carful.

  
He then twisted to face the 3rd guy in time to catch the fist thrown at his shoulder, and he quickly caught the 2nd fist aimed for his stomach.

  
“Are you _sure_ you know who I am? Cus’ if you did, you’d know I could easily kick your ass.”

He twisted the guys arms until he gave in, which peter took as his que to web him to the ground.

  
He secured the unconscious guy, and was about to turn and check if the elderly man was okay when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

But he was too late.

  
A 4th guy emerged from the shadows faster then Peter could comprehend, and as peter held up his hand to shoot a web, the guy ran the knife right through his hand.

  
I took all of Peters strength not to scream in agony like a child. The knife was very obviously sticking out the other side of his hand, the blood spluttering everywhere, turning the fabric on his hand a crimson colour. It made him want to gag.

  
The guy infront of him grimaced and tugged the knife out of his hand, and Peter suppressed a sob. Before the criminal could move, he shot out his other hand and webbed the knife, yanking it out of his grasp. He kicked the man square in the chest, sending him flying and crashing into the wall. He slipped to the floor unconscious.

  
“K-Karen, call the cops, would ya?”

  
“They have been alerted of the location of the crime. Would you like me to call for some medical assistance?”

  
“No, no you know I don’t do that. Thanks, Karen.”

  
“Pleasure, Peter.”

  
Then his attention immediately went to the man being cornered, who was still cowering behind a dumpster. Peter went over to him, his hands up in surrender. A white hot pain flashed up his right arm, from the hand that had a hole in the middle. Peter winced at the sharp pain, but he kept his attention on making sure the man was okay.

  
“Hey, buddy. Are you alright?”

  
The mans eyes were wide in terror, but he gave a hesitant nod, “Thank you, th-thank you so much…”

  
Peter smiled, and gestured back at the criminals, “Its what I do.”

  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
After the situation with the elderly man in the alley, to say that Peter was struggling to get around was an understatement.

  
The knife had ran right through his button that controlled the mechanism of his web-shooter, not to mention that pain from the gash in his hand was excruciating. His right arm was drawn in towards his midsection to avoid using it too much, whilst he used his only working web-shooter on his left arm to swing from building to building.

  
But that meant that when he shot at a building, he had to swing all the way over and latch onto it.

  
He was scanning for any obvious crimes, but he was on his way home. He had tried just pushing through the pain and manage fighting with only one hand/arm, but he had failed. He’d try to punch with the wrong hand, and a new splutter of blood would explode out of the gash.

  
Because it wasn’t a shallow cut, he heard the crack from his metacarpal bones snapping as the knife sliced into his hand.

  
“Peter, your Dorsal Carpal Arch and Palmar Carpal Arch are both torn, and if you continue to fight with such aggressive force you may further injure them. May I suggest a lighter fighting method? Or perhaps you should seek medical attention?” Karen had informed him at some point, but he just shrugged it off.

But he was starting to regret that now.

  
It was now 9: 55, and dark out. Peters curfew wasn’t until 11:00, but May shouldn’t have been home yet. He’d had dinner with her at 6:30, and she had left at the same time he had because she needed to work the night shift. Which meant if Peter got home now, he could patch up his hand, clear up the blood, put on a large sweater to cover his hands, all before she got back to the apartment.

  
He latched onto a rather tall building, gasping as he hit the building wall full force. He looked up at the building, he wasn’t far from the top. Without a second thought, he began to carefully scale the building, trying his best not to put too much pressure on his right hand.

  
He came to the top, and found it to be nice and empty. He clambered onto the ledge, and free fully dangled his legs over the ledge. It was a breathtaking view. All of the lights from the city of queens contrasted with the dark night sky.

  
Peter sat there for a few minutes longer, taking in the view. The building was a good portion taller than most of the other buildings in queens. He looked down at his injured hand. The material around the gash was ripped, the web shooter button was dangling off, snapped in half but still clinging on.

  
“Mr. Stark is going to kill me…”

  
He had only just gotten the suit back from Stark a little less then a week ago. And he had already torn it again.

  
Well, shit.

  
Sighing to himself, he placed his feet on the side of the building and twisted around to start his descent. The building was too tall compared to the others to shoot a web and swing without probably dislocating his arms.

  
Not a second passed before he was falling.

  
Not like free falling- it had happened so quickly, the blood pounding in his ears.

  
He had done it without thinking. He had put his bad hand down first, straining all of his weight against it. And he had let go in the shock of the sudden pain.

  
The wind rushing past him sucked away his voice, and the screaming didn’t even reach his own ears.

  
“-sensors...detected a... elevation...heart rate.” Karen’s voice was just barely audible, Peter only catching chunks of what she was saying. “-appear…falling, I advise… parachute.”

  
_Parachute_.

  
He used all of his remaining strength to flip over onto his front.

  
He was close to the ground. Too close.

  
Peter eyes widened and he screamed as loud as his vocal cords would let him,  
_“Activate parachute!”_

  
Peter couldn’t help from breathing heavily as the parachute erupted from the back of his suit, slowing his death fall significant and rather abruptly. He lurched forward, his torso straining from the sudden stop of his fall.  
When he regained his breathing, he murmured,

  
“T-thanks for that, Karen.”

  
“Your welcome, Peter.”

  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
Spider-Man crawled through his bedroom window, dropping onto the top bunk of his bed. He rested his injured hand on his stomach, and stared up at the ceiling in a daze.

  
He took time to catch his breath, before forcing himself to move his ass and get to work. He threw his backpack onto the floor with little care.

  
He pressed his chest, and the suit expand. He had to peel it off though, as most of it stuck to him from sweat. When he got to the part of the suit where he had been stabbed, things became a lot harder.

  
The blood had dried and hardened, it was still bleeding, and with the dirt and sweat mixed in, it made for a little bit of a difficult situation.

  
He grimaced when he got a good look at the gash. It was about and inch and a half in diameter, the flesh around it red and raw.

  
He pushed the image out of his head, and tugged on some grey sweats and a navy t-shirt. He made his way out of his bedroom and to the bathroom, and stared at the reflection in the mirror. He had dark bags under his eyes, from the lack of sleep he was getting from being Spider-Man. May had noticed. She had forced Peter to have nights of patrol, but he didn’t look _that_ bad.

  
He pulled out the first aid kit from one of the cupboards under the bathroom sink. He took out a bandage, cotton pads, and disinfectant. He knew from experience that the disinfectant was never really that powerful, but with any luck the cut had been rather clean.

  
He had it cleaned and bandaged within minutes; this certainly wasn’t the first time he’d done this. Anyone normal would need stitches, and it would take a few months for the bones and Arteries in their hand to properly heal, but with Peters healing factor, his body could do it in under 2 weeks.

  
Once he was finished, he hobbled back into his bedroom, lazily switched if the lamp, and collapsed onto his bed. He had to admit, it was much easier now that May knew he was Spider-Man. But she obviously hadn’t taken it lightly when she found out. It had taken a Week for them to talk about it properly.

  
He turned over to face the wall, and let himself drift to sleep.

  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
May was furious.

  
She had gotten home later then she had expected, and she was ready to just drop and sleep right outside the door, but she got a quick shower and went to check on Peter. She didn’t like not being able to be at home when Peter came back from patrol in case he was hurt, so when she wasn’t available, she was putting her trust into Peter that he would tell her of any injuries.

  
When she poked her head through the door, her nephew was already asleep, light snores evident.

  
She spotted his suit in a heap on the floor, and quietly crept in the retrieve it. It was always sweaty and sticky, so ever since she had found out, she washed the suit.

  
She walked down the hall to the washing machine, and was about the shove the Spider-Man suit in when she felt a hot substance on her fingers.

  
Her heart plunged as she felt around the hand of the suit, and large tear obvious, and the amount of blood was alarming. There was dry blood and wet blood.

  
The next morning, she prepared hers and Peters breakfast of bacon and eggs.

  
“Morning, May.” Peter walked around the corner, dressed ready for school.

  
“Morning, Peter.” She set down the breakfast plates, and took a seat across from Peter.

  
“How was work last night?” Peter asked her as he shoved some scrambled eggs in his mouth. May offered a small smile,

  
“Tiring, but we got a lot done, which was good.” They sat in a silence for a few minutes. Which meant now it was her turn to ask the question she was dreading, “How was patrol last night?”

  
Peter nodded, “It was good, saved a bunch of people, the usual.” He continued to eat, but May noticed that he was eating with his left hand, his right one sitting on his lap under the table.

  
“Left hand, huh? What’s up with that?” She tried to dig a little deeper.

Peters eyes resembled what looked like panic for a mere second, but he quickly covered it up with a shrug. But the reaction on Peters face told her everything she needed to know.  
“Oh, uh, it’s an experiment…”

  
“Mmhh.” She looked at him with the best straight face she could pull.

  
“Yeah. T-to see how long it will take for both sides of the brain to get used to using the opposite hand to the dominant one…” he continued to eat, keeping his eyes on his food and refusing to make eye contact.

  
“I thought you did that a couple of months ago?” May knew at this point that she had him cornered, but he just replied with,

  
“We are doing it again to see if the brain reacts faster to the changes.”  
“Show me your hand.”

  
Peters head snapped up, and he stared at May for a good seconds.

  
“Uh, sure.” He offered her his left hand, his fork still in his grasp.

  
“Cut the bullshit, show me your other hand.” Peter seemed to cower in just a little bit. He swore himself of course, but hearing May swear wasn’t something he was always comfortable with for some reason.

  
How did she know about his hand?

  
“There was a gapping hole in the hand of your suit, I know something happened. Show me.”

  
Peter wanted to slap himself. He’d left the suit just sitting in the middle of the room, discarded on the floor. He knew that May sometimes washed the suit since Tony confirmed it safely washable, he didn’t even consider it.

  
He rested his right hand on the table infront of May. He had checked and re-bandaged it that morning, the gash still clean, but the skin hadn’t knitted it self together yet. May took his hand in hers, and she immediately started to unwrap the bandage.

  
“May, honestly, its fine, I che-“ he stopped mid sentence as May stared down at the huge gash in his hand. Any closer to the edge on either side of his hand, and it would have been half falling off.

  
May turned it over in her surprisingly steady hands, but her mouth fell agape when she saw that the gash went right through to the other side.

  
“How could you keep his from me?!” She looked at him with furious eyes, “Ive told you so many times, whenever you have any sort of injury, you come to me, you do not try to hide it. On a normal person, they would have had to have gone to hospital for stitches and a cast!”  
She felt around further, and Peter bit back a cry of pain.

  
“The bones are starting to heal. What was this?”

  
Peter hesitated before answering, “One of the criminals I was fighting cut through my hand with a knife. But It was a clean cut?” He said it more like a question then an answer.  
May nodded,

“You should be alright. But I’m disappointed,” she stared into Peters eyes but kept her voice firm and steady, “If you don’t tell me next time you have any sort of injury, I will drag you to the hospital if I have to.”

  
Peter nodded immediately. He couldn’t go to the hospital, it was too risky. He would quickly burn through any sort of medicine or sedative they gave him, and it wouldn’t take long for them to figure out his identity.

  
Peter went back into his room once May had taken another good look at the gash and deemed it clean. May, being the brilliant star she is, had washed and dried Peters suit in time for him to wrap it up and stick it into his backpack. He was quite surprised that she was giving it back to him, to be honest.

  
Peter went to go and unplug his phone from the charging socket. He scrolled through any messages he had received, which were usually very few and always from the same people. So when he stopped at the notification that said,

  
2 texts from Tony Stark

  
He stared, bewildered.

  
Mr. Stark had texted him? If anyone associated with the avengers ever contacted him, it was usually Happy. This was defiantly a first.  
He quickly went into their chat (one that he didn’t even know that he had) and read the messages that he had left.

**  
Tony: Hey kid, your suit programming told me you ejected the parachute?**

**  
Tony: Just make sure you reinstall it, Karen can tell you how, its simple. Later, kiddo**.

  
Peters eyebrows creased. He had left the parachute on top of a building somewhere in queens, his injured hand unable to carry it, and the other trying to keep him from splatting into the ground and becoming a Peter Pancake.

  
He hesitated before sending a reply,

  
**Peter: will do, Mr. Stark. Thank you.**

  
He spaced out for a second, and then added,

  
**Peter: Sir.**

  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
“Oh my GOD! Dude! The knife went right through your hand…” Ned stared in amazement at the gash and Peter smirked with a little bit of guilty pride.

  
“Yeah, bones broken and everything. I dealt with it though.”

  
“That is so cool! I can’t believe I am friends with the Spider-“ Peter sharply elbowed Ned in the ribs before he went on.

  
“Ned, you know you have to keep it down.”

  
“Yeah, right. Sorry. So is it already healing?”

  
“Yeah, it’s no way near as painful as it was last night. Healing factors rule, man.”

“I wish I had a healing factor. Once, I got the Led of my hulk pencil- not the one I have now, like my old one, stuck in my palm and I had to go to the hospital to get it out.”

  
“I know, Ned, you’ve told me that story hundreds of times.”

  
“Oh. But that’s like my version of your patrol injuries…”

  
“I know, buddy. I think they’re really cool, like the time you stapled your tongue and only screamed for, like, 45 seconds,, that’s wicked.”

  
“I know right, my sister screamed for so much longer.”

  
The boys yapped on like they always do, as they walked down the empty school hallways, eager to get to class early, whilst nearly every other student was still taking their time; eating lunch, topping up makeup in the bathrooms, normal teenage stuff.

  
“Hey, I might need your help with something.”

  
Ned’s face lit up with a delight that could lighten up anyone’s day. “Oh my gosh! Iike Spider-Man related stuff? Or the science project? Cus it’s pretty difficult to choose between tampering with Stark technology and blowing shit up and then documenting it.”

  
“Wait we have science homework? I was sure I was up to date will much classes…”

  
Ned shook his head, “Obviously not. So anyway, what do you want help with?”

  
“I’ll show you after school, just call your mum and tell her your coming over to my place for a few hours.”

  
The rest of school passed reasonably quickly, with the exception of the occasional 5 minutes of each lesson that seemed to stretch on because of Ned pestering Peter to tell him what he need help with.

  
“I told you, Ned, not in school.” Had been his reply to all the many times his friend had asked.

  
Once school finished, the boys took the short walk from the school back to Peters apartment. May wouldn’t be back for another few hours, which meant the boys had the apartment all to them selves.

  
“Tell me, tell me, tell me.” Ned chanted as Peter gave an exaggerated sigh as he plopped down in his desk chair. He pulled the suit out of his backpack, swiped his hand over the desk to clear it (and let everything smash onto the floor, of course) and lay the suit of the table.

  
“Spider-Man it is!” Ned plummeted his fists into the air. And waddled over to were Peter was standing. Peter grabbed the left hand of the suit, before realising it was the wrong one, and went to grab the other one instead.

  
“I got stabbed through the suit.”

  
Ned put on one of those cheesy thinking poses, “And you want me to sew that gap,” he did one of those ‘this guy’ signs at Peter, “I knew one day you would come to me in need of my crafting skills.”

  
“What? No, Ned, I can do that myself. I need your help with _this_.”

  
Peter grabbed the left hand of the suit and showed him the difference. Ned inhaled sharply when he saw the problem.

  
“How are we gonna fix that? Half of the web shooter is missing.”

  
“Not quite.” Peter pointed over to the other end of the desk, where the second part to the web shooter mechanism sat.

  
“With your help, I can get it fixed in time for patrol.”

  
Ned cracked his knuckles in a soft, baby way, “Let’s do this.”

  
2 hours later, the teenagers had managed to make the web-shooter look very similar to what it used to. They had tested it, and it seemed to work well enough. They gave each other a high five, and just decided to watch Star Trek until May got home at about 6, and then Peter would patrol later. Or at least try to with only one full hand.

  
“We should take a Star Trek character quiz, right?” Ned asked Peter at with a mouthful of crisps.

  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
A week had passed since the hand to knife incident. Honestly, Peter had had every intention in going to retrieve the parachute. But he had been almost ready to pass out from blood loss when he had lost it; a hand wound produces a surprising amout of blood. And he just couldn’t find it.

  
He knew he should have told someone, but it just kept slipping his mind. But he could be more carful, right? He needed to prove that he didn’t need to rely on others; or at least that’s what he told himself.

  
It was 6:30, and Peter was just about to slip back out to patrol. Before he put on the suit, he unwrapped the bandaged again and got another good look at the gash. The skin was knitting now, the bones practically healed; his healing factor had worked faster then he had expected it to.

  
He had only risked taking the bandage off for patrol now twice, but he seemed to be doing fine. His hand was still a little bit sore, but nothing major.

  
He put the suit on, leaving the bandage off. He called goodbye to May, and then slipped out of the window and Into a normal outdoors evening in queens.

  
Just like every other night.

  
Until not 3 hours later, it wasn’t.

  
It had started to rain. And then pour.

  
Peter had finally gotten a break, and was sitting on the rooftop of some Queens apartments, with the heater on full blast. He had just tuned into some of the conversations going on around him, to see if there were any criminals having a good old natter about their next move. And hey, it’s not eavesdropping if you could potentially save someone’s life.

  
To be honest, he hadn’t expected to hear anything other then TV shows playing from a few of the apartments beneath him, or a good argument he could tune into, but, surprisingly, he got what he was looking for. Good superhuman spider senses.

  
_“You're_ _shitting me, right?”_

_  
“No, they’re on their way. If we are gonna get the load to him in time, we have to leave now.”_

  
Peter turned his head in the direction he could hear the conversation coming from, but he couldn’t pinpoint the exact location.

_  
“Well then, move your fat ass and get in the bloody ‘copter!”_

_  
“Have you got everything? He said if we miss a drug, he’ll turn us into the police himself.”_

_  
“Ahh, he wouldn’t do that unless he was prepared to bust his own ass. Now let’s go before we’re caught, it’s a bloody long flight, eh?”_

  
He lost the conversation, so his attention turned to looking out for said helicopter they were about to fly. And sure enough, not a minute later, a helicopter with stark industries imprinted on the front emerged from behind a building close the Peter.

  
No one was going to notice, because planes and ‘copters passed over Queens all the time. And with the rain and the constant sound of car horns down below, not one was gonna hear the helicopter propellers anyway.

  
Peter didn’t hesitate to jump and swing to the next building. He webbed onto the helicopter, but as soon he had climbed to the belly of the helicopter and grabbed one of the landing skids, his web snapped.

  
And in the shock of the moment Peter realised that his webs weren’t as waterproof as he thought they were, and they stood a poor chance against heavy rain.

  
The helicopter ascended, and Peter realised that he was going to have to land this thing, safely, or somehow convince the pilot to do it. From their conversation earlier, Peter had figured that there was only 2 of them in there. But he couldn’t just take them out? The helicopter would fall and harm even more civilians.

  
From the sounds of it, they were smuggling a lot of drugs, which was exactly the kind of thing Peter tried to stop, but how was he supposed to do that airborne?

  
He held in a scream as he began to slip from the landing skid. He needed to get inside, or at least crawl onto the side of the vehicle and and find something better to latch onto.

  
He carefully crawled up the side, whilst feeling for little bits to latch onto so he wasn’t completely relying on the stick of his fingers.

The wind was strong, and deafening.

The rain soaked his suit, and he regretted turning off the heater. But he needed to focus.

  
He knocked on the cockpit window, the light coming from the inside letting him see the two men inside, barely. He waved, trying to keep the mood lighter then it really was which was quite a pathetic thing to try to do given the circumstances.

  
He sniffled, trying not to weep.

  
Peter watched the men inside the cockpit pointing at the strange thing on their window.  
They suddenly swerved, which sent Peter flying. But he didn’t fall far, as he webbed himself to the helicopter again, but he could already feel his webbing giving way.

  
He clambered back up, just in time for them to swerve again, trying to shake him off.

  
Would it be easier to just let them go?  
He doubted there was much he could do anyway-

  
No. He wanted to chide himself, this was his job; he had to get it done.

  
But he was far too high above ground, he no longer recognised this part of New York. He had no idea how long he had been hanging there, but the height they were at and the ache in his arms told him it was a lot longer then he would initially guessed.  
When he looked down, he felt his stomach churn. It wasn’t because of how high he was, but because it reminded him of the plane incident with the Vulture. Ironic, considering this was also a Stark engine.

  
He clung to the side of the helicopter for a little longer, but he knew he couldn’t stop this. The rain made everything slippery, the thick rain clouds they were flying though made it impossible to see. And there was no entry point open, like the one that the vulture had conveniently left open for him a month or so ago.

  
But that wasn’t the real problem now.

  
He had to get down.

  
“K-Karen, is there anywhere safe to- Im not sure what I’m supposed to do…”

  
“It appears that you are now at 8,153 feet, and there is no safe landing point, especially considering that you are still ascending. With the speed you are climbing at, unless the vehicle you appear to be riding slows down significantly, your oxygen level in your blood will be at an unsteady level, and you are at risk of altitude sickness.”

  
“Yeah, thanks Karen, not what I asked for, but thanks for extra anxiety.”

  
“Your most welcome, Peter.”

  
He let the tears slip from his eyes, unable to control it.

  
This was so stupid. What was he thinking? He hadn’t even planned on a way to get back down, and he had no idea where he was going.

  
“Peter, I think it is crucial that I contact Mr. Stark-“

  
“What? No, Karen, please don’t, I-“

  
The helicopter swerved more fiercely then it had done before, and Peter nearly lost his grip. He could hear the thunder in the distant and he knew that this swerve was from the storm.  
He fisted the helicopter uselessly. He may have had super strength, but not here. Not now. He was too high. God he was so high; this could have given anyone a fear of heights. It was much higher then the plane had been, and wind and pressure threatening to blow Peter off any second. He felt his head pound and his ears buzz.

  
But he clung on. Because what more could he do? He couldn’t see anything below, they might have been over seas by now.

  
But even if he could see a safe point to land, he hadn’t reinstalled the parachute. Which was what exactly Mr. Stark had told him to do.

  
He had no idea how long he had clung there, just waiting for something; for the helicopter to land, for it to swerve again and kill him in the process.

  
Jinxed.

  
The helicopter swerved so viciously that Peter lost his grip, and he was falling through the sky, through the clouds,

  
Through the darkness.

  
But just like a week ago, his screams were lost in the roar of the wind. The only difference being he had no parachute to save him. Because he hadn’t been bothered enough to properly search for it.

  
“Sending Tony Stark direct coordinates.”

  
“Wha- Karen…”

  
He felt his eye lids get heavy, the pressure was to much. He was going to die.

  
And no one would know how.

  
He didn’t remember the iron man suit catching him. He only vaguely remembered how he had been falling through the sky by the time iron man set him down on a cement platform.

Judging from the view, the top of a building.

  
Peters vision swamped, and he started to breath heavily. He was aware on some level that he was rocking back and forth, but his heart racing was definite.

  
“Whoa, kid, take it easy…” he slowly, carefully put a hand on Peters shoulder.

The teen felt the need to shy away, but something told him that this fine, that he was safe. That Tony was trying to comfort him.

  
They stayed like that for a few more minutes, until Peter had calmed down enough that he stopped shaking.

  
Iron man kneeled infront of him, and he had Peters Spider-Man mask clasped in his left hand. “You alright, Peter?”

  
Peter took a minute to consider the question, but in the end just nodded even though he wasn’t sure.

  
“P-panic attack… I think…”

  
“Yeah, you want to talk about it?”

  
Peter shook his head, but spoke anyway, “Uh… just the helicopter… reminded me of, well, you know… and then I fell.”

  
“Yeah, your lucky that Karen alerted me that you were in the middle of nowhere, and again when you fell…”

  
“And the fall…” Peter continued as if he hadn’t heard Tony, “I was falling again…”

  
“Hey, hey, I caught you, and your safe now, that’s all that matters, alright?”

  
Peter nodded, not quite sure what to say. They sat like that for a few minutes.

  
“So I guess you’ve got wi-Fi at whatever party your at, huh?” Peter asked sheepishly, trying to break the silence.

  
But then Tony took of the helmet to reveal… Tony.

  
“Kid, I’m not always that insensitive.”

  
The concern was evident on the older mans face. But so was a little bit of frustration.

  
“The only reason I didn’t come myself that time was because I was far away from you. And for your information, I don’t party every night.”

  
“Okay, Mr. Stark. Okay.”

  
“You’ve got a cheek. Especially for a kid who didn’t reinstall his parachute.”

  
Peter looked up at him, “How do you-“

  
“Come on, kid. Really? I made that suit, I literally see on a screen that it hasn’t been reinstalled.”

  
“I know, I’m sorry. Mr. Stark.”

  
“Save me the gibber grabber kid. I’m gonna take you home now, there’s no way I’m trusting you to go back by yourself.”

  
“Wait, what about the guys- with-with the the drugs-“

  
“Peter, sometimes the bad guys get away.” He shrugged, “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you can not blame yourself for this. Now come one kid, I’ll take you back.”

  
“I-I can go-“ Peter tried to stand up, but he was hit by a dizzy wave, and stumbled forward. Tony caught him before he could fall, and then scooped him up, and flew in a direction, but Peter was too tired and unbothered to keep his eyes open for long.

  
“Rest up, kid. You're gonna need the energy for what May will have in store when she finds out what kind of shit you tried to pull tonight.”

  
“Thank you.” Peter murmured before he drifted to sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really hoping that there will be more Father and son bonding time in the next chapter between Tony and Peter :D  
> Happy to see that you made it this far, and again I apologies for any stupid mistakes I missed out on.


	3. The Torment Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the wait. It make take longer now, as school had just started back up again. Thank you so much for all your comments and kudos! They are all greatly appreciated :)

3.

Many people thought that Tony Stark was a busy man. But to be honest, when he wasn’t tinkering or attending the occasional business meeting, he got bored quite quickly.

“Hello, Ms. Parker. What can I do for you this fine morning?”

Him and May talked often, so when she called him, it’s not as if he hadn’t been expecting it.

“Morning, Stark. I-I have a favour to ask of you.”

“Hit me. Not literally though, please. Something tells me your good at discipline.”

“Peters having some… problems, and he won’t listen to me.” A pause,

“I mean, I guess I could give him the talk. Every 15 year old boy needs to know about this kind of stuff-“

“No! I mean… he’s being bullied. I’m sorry, this is stupid, I didn’t mean to-“

“No, lets back up a little. He’s being bullied?”

“Yes.”

“Spider-Man? Doesn’t he try to stand up to the bully? He could kick their asses if he wanted to.”

“He denies it, but Ned tells me. He tells me everything that happens to Peter at school. He’s surprisingly secretive.”

“Tell me about it.” Tony pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I’ve tried to tell him to stand up to Flash, but he doesn’t listen. I thought maybe you could talk to him… I’m sorry, you obviously don’t have to-“ He vaguely heard may mumble something like, _‘what kind of idiot calls up Tony stark and asks him to give their kid a lesson in standing up for himself’_

“Thank you for coming to me, May. I can pick him up after school if you want, and talk to him then.”

“Thank you _so_ much. I thought he might at least listen to you."

“Uh, it would be a first.”

“Are you sure you’re okay to do it?”

“Positive.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Peter shuffled down the steps leading away from his high school, Ned behind him. The day had been uneventful, but that was just school.

“What’s up, Parker? Leeds.” Flash came ‘short striding’ towards the boys, his expression saying that he had a batch of insults prepared.

“Flash.” Peter greeted with little to no care as he turned away from the other teenager and continued walking down the steps and away from the school.

“Hey, hey! What’s the rush?” This happened everyday, after school. Always the same. Peter groaned and turned around to face him again,

“Whatever you're gonna say Flash, just say it.” Flash gave him a look.

“I thought you loved spending time with me!”

Ned snorted, “Yeah, almost as much as we love you taking the piss out of us.”

“Oh, we have a good time. So, Parker, how’s that friendship with Spider-Man working out? Has he realised that your just a dweeb like your only other friend?" He smirked at Ned.

Peter could take the hits, but he didn’t like it when Flash turned on Ned. “Leave him out of this, Flash. Besides, you must really care about me to ask me almost everyday about this, like you have been doing for the past month?”

Some of Flashes friends snorted behind the bully, and Flash looked uncomfortable, his face turning an ever so faint shade of red.

“Yeah, like anyone believes you work for Tony Stark, let alone are friends with Spiderman.”

“Seriously, Flash, how many times can you bring this up? Don’t you get bored?”

“And miss seeing the little pouty look on your face?” Flash gave Peter a shove. Nothing too hard, but Peter acted as if it actually had an impact on him, as if it actually compared to anything he faced on patrol.

“Listen, Flash-“ Peter stopped when he saw the look of surprise on Flash faces. He instinctively went to check if there was anything on his face, but Flash was looking just behind Peter.

“Come on, kid, you know I get cranky if I don’t get my coffee in time.” Tony had approached, glancing at his watch to act casual. He’d only caught the ending of the conversation and the part where Flash shoved Peter, but that was enough.

“Oh my god…” Flash just stared bewildered at Tony Stark as he readjusted his sunglasses and shoved a hand in his pocket, and hung the other arm around Peters shoulders.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were popular at the workplace and school?” Tony advanced a little on who had presumed was the Flash kid that May had mentioned. “This kid could flip you upside the head if he wanted-“

“Oh my god Mr. Stark-“

“-and there isn’t a damn thing you could do about it.” Tony continued before Peter could further interrupt. “Did you name your self Flash? ‘Cus your parents have gotta be pretty sad to actually call their kid Flash.”

“I- Its Eugene Thompson, sir.”

“ _Eugene_? Oh dear _lord_ -“

“ _Tony_.” Peter had his hand on Tony’s forearm, and although the Kid never really noticed, he had an iron grip.

“Leave my kid alone.” And that’s all Tony said before he turned around, dusted of his jacket, and strode back to the car Happy had waiting for him, leaving Peter dumbfounded.

The teen tripped a little over himself before sending Ned a quick wave, and followed Tony to the car. He stopped outside of it just as Tony got in and rolled down the window, looking at Peter through the top of his glasses.

“You getting in or what?” Peter quickly obeyed the order and slipped into the back, dumping is bag on the seat next to him.

“May didn’t tell me you were picking me up from school today-“

“Oh, is it a problem? Jump back out if you want, I don’t care.” When he didn’t get a reply, he glanced at Peter in the rear view. The kid was looking down at his lap, and had visibly paled. Stark sighed irritably and turned around to face him. “Look, I’m sorry- don’t expect to hear that often- but May called me up and told me about the bullying, and…” he searched for the right words. “To put it simple, it pisses me off. It _fucking_ _pisses_ _me off_ so much. You save people’s lives everyday, putting your life at risk, and you get treated like shit.”

“Mr. Stark, please, I’m used to this. It’s okay.”

“Okay? How can you say that? Of course it’s not okay! I know what it is like to be bullied when I was in school, but I always had the biggest, fattest ego out there. You know that.”

“Everyone gets bullied, its part of high school.”

Tony hesitated, “Yes… but just not… you?” He rubbed his temples with two fingers. “Do me a favour, and don’t tell your aunt how much this stresses me out. Just say I think she looks especially hot in her new StarkText profile picture, or something.”

Peter was quiet for a minute that seemed to stretch on for an hour. “I will try to stand up to him next time, I-I promise…”

Peter watched Tony carefully in the car mirror, awaiting his reaction. “ _Thank_ you. You know that I just... kind of _care,_ right _?_ ” Peter nodded _._

 “Uh, sir, should I drive to the apartment or…?” Happy looked wearily at the kids outside the car door, staring gobsmacked at the people inside the vehicle, many with their phones out.

“Yes, Happy! You were supposed to start driving five minutes ago!”

“Actually, sir, you have only been in the vehicle for three minutes and fifty seven seconds.” Fridays voice echoed through the car.

“God, Happy, drive." There was an awkward silence in the car before Peter spoke up,

“I actually think Eugene is a cool name…”

“Yeah, I like it.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“So you told Mr. Stark about Flash?”

May was knelt on the floor, clearing out some old junk from her wardrobe when Peter spoke up. She froze for a second, before standing up and turning to face her nephew.

“What was I supposed to do?”

“Well-“

“Peter, you wouldn’t listen to me! I know you think that it’s all fine and you can handle it, but this isn’t right.”

“He’s going to continue to pick on me anyway. Or maybe someone else, May, I couldn’t watch someone else get bullied so horribly.”

“And it’s okay for you to bullied so horribly?”

“Yes! I mean, no, but it doesn’t faze me, I have a whole other world and can live in, it really opened my eyes. And it’s not like what Mr. Stark said is going to actually stop Flash when he’s not around.”

“I didn’t send Tony to whip Flash into place, I asked him to talk to you, to stand up for yourself. I know you can, and I know you don’t wanna make yourself to open or even become a target, but there’s no harm in giving the bully the bitch-slap he deserves.”

The pair stood there for a little bit, Peter contemplating his response.

“I need to go, the bus for the decathlon trip leaves just as school starts.” May smiled, wrapping her arms around the teen, embracing him.

“I’ll miss you.” She pulled back but kept her grip on his shoulders. “But if anyone approaches you, you break their nose.”

Peter smiled, nodding as he swung his backpack over his shoulder, his clothes for the next day shoved inside. “I love you May, see you tomorrow night.”

He gave her a kiss on the cheek and made his way to the front door.

“See you sweetie. Break a leg.”

 

Peter arrived at the library where the rest of the decathlon team was waiting, with 5 minutes to spare. Ned skipped (it’s not childish when you’re best friends with Spider-Man) over to him.

“Oh my god, oh my god, what happened yesterday when you got in Mr. Starks car?” Ned asked impatiently.

Peter felt some one staring at him, and he caught Flash giving him eyes, a look of shame edged on his face. Peter turned his attention back to Ned.

“Uh, he took me home.”

“What? Oh come on dude, that’s no fun!”

“Mmh.”

Ned and Peter then turned their conversation to which fight scene was the best in Star Wars: the return of the Jedi.

It was a couple more minutes of the team just standing around in the library, whilst the rest of the students went to class, before Mr. Harrington spoke up.

“Uh, hey guys. The bus is ready, so lets start loading on the luggage.”

Once everyone was on the bus, the driver immediately started the bus journey to where the international competition was being held. The students sat in their seats, facing the front of the bus as Mr. Harrington stood up.

“Well, this is our first proper competition without Liz, but I’m confident that Michelle will do a fantastic Job of Team captain, as she has done so far.” There was a modest round of applause. Peter thought back to Liz. To the her smile, taking her to the homecoming dance, what had actually happened that night… he was constantly trying to push the whole thing behind him, but he couldn’t do that without pushing Liz away as well. But she was gone. She wasn’t coming back, not likely anyway.

Someone on the bus whistled, and Peter turned to look at Michelle at the front of the bus. He must have been hallucinating, because he thought he saw the slight blush and smile playing across her face.

You see the strangest and most beautiful things when you’re Peter Parker.

_Had he found his new Liz?_

“And I’ve lost hope in almost everything in life, so Michelle take that as a huge compliment.” Mr. Harrington brought him out of his train of thought. “It’s a short ride, so once we have checked into our rooms, we will meet up and go through some practice questions then.”

The students where then left to talk among themselves. Peter and Ned had sat further towards the back of the bus, like usual.

It wasn’t until 10 minutes into the journey that Flash stood up and moved towards the back of bus, everyone too busy chatting or on their phones to notice. He sat directly behind Peter and Ned, and Peter felt the hairs on his arms stand up, and he waited for something to come, but it never did. But he felt Flash staring at him.

“Alright, what do you want?” Peter huffed, craning his neck to state right back at Flash.

“So you know Tony Stark?” Ned was watching now, but he moved to the edge of the seat, having every intention to stay out of it.

“Yes. I’ve told you countless times thatI intern for him. Was that-“

“He _called_ you his _kid_?” Peter hadn’t missed that comment. Infact he had felt his heat rate elevate a little. But he didnt think Flash would dwell on it.

“He’s close to me, I-I guess.” He had to admit that this conversation was making him uncomfortable.

“Listen here, Penis-“the hairs on the back of Peters neck stood up, and he ducked behind the seat as Flashes arm jutted out. But he reached down and tugged at his hair, forcing Peter to face him. He moved grip onto Peters ear and pressed down hard, Peter bitting his lip. “- you humiliated me in front of everyone. I’m not gonna let that pass, no, you’re gonna get the worst of it when your precious Stark isn’t there to protect you.”

He tugged harder at Peters ear, and then let go roughly, and Peter gasped as his he hit the seat, although it didn’t hurt terribly much. Both Peter and Ned watched as Flash stormed back to his place on the bus, neither quite sure what to say. A few eyes had turned their way now, but they quickly returned back to what they had been doing.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Okay, children, were going to have to practice especially hard now, the competition is tomorrow morning, we’ve gotta to be ready.” Mr. Harrington rubbed his hands together in anticipation. After a few hours of settling in to the hotel and grabbing a quick bite to eat, it was 2:30. The decathlon team was seated in a circle in one of the cheap lounges the hotel provided for the competitors. “Michelle, I will leave it up to you to ask the questions. I trust you all have your bells ready.”

All the members were sharing a bell between two.

“Alright guys,” Michelle easily slid of the couch and stood at her intimidatingly tall height, the question cards in her grasp.

“Ring it when you know it. Or just ring it anyway, whatever.” Two people rung their bell simultaneously, and Michelle just gave them an eyebrow.

“Which of the following dinosaurs thrived only during the Cretaceous Period? A. Ceratosaurus. B. Iguanodon. C. Velociraptor. D. Herrerasaurus?”

Sally rang the bell first, “B. Iguanodon and C. Velociraptor.”

“C is correct, but B deems the entire answer incorrect. Iguanodons first appeared mid- Jurassic period. Next question.

“How many dwarf planets are recorded in our solar system to date?”

Ned rang, “Five?”

“Correct. Their names?” When Ned didn’t answer, Peter rang the bell, “Haumea, Eris, Ceres, Pluto and Ganymede?”

“Ganymede is a moon of Jupiter, the last dwarf planet was makemake.

“Right, easy one. Salt is one of the essential minerals in the human body. How much of it is there in the body?”

“Two-hundred and fifty-five grams.” Flash rang out, and Michelle nodded.

They kept asking and answering questions for another half an hour, but Peter just let himself get lost in thought. It wasn’t until he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket that he came back to his senses. He pulled it out and read the text,

**Happy: Kid why the hell are you miles away from Queens in the middle of a school day?**

Peter had completely forgotten to tell him where he was going again. And it’s not as if it were a last minute thing this time.

**Peter: Sorry, on a school trip, will be back tomorrow.**

**Peter: Sorry again.**

He hardly had time to send the message as not a moment later Michelle was snapping her fingers in his face, bringing him back to focus. “Hey, Parker, no phones. Come on, it’s your turn. DNA codes for protein, which are the building blocks for organisms. What is the most abundant protein in the human body?”

“Collagen.”

“How much stronger is a richter magnitude on the Richter scale then the level below it?”

“Ten times stronger.”

Michelle nodded in satisfaction and shuffled her question cards again before putting them back into her rucksack.

“That’s enough for today. We meet back here at seven in time for dinner, until then…” she looked to Mr. Harrington, expecting his opinion.

“Ah, yes.” He shoved his phone into his pocket and stood. “Uh, just hang around for a little bit, but make sure you’re here by seven.”

 

 

“Yo, Parker!” Flash came around the corner of the hotel corridor and threw something at him. It hit himself square in the head. Peters hand quickly shot up in the shock of the moment.

“Flash! You can’t throw that at people, are you crazy?” Ned knelt down and picked up the object. It was a rather large metal lock, probably from Flashes suitcase. Flash could be heard laughing behind them, and he walked infront of them, filming their reaction.

“Thought Black widow would have taught you a few tricks? But to be fair, she would never hang out with you.”

Peter knew Flash couldn’t post this video anywhere; no matter what it was, Mr. Stark would find it. FRIDAY could hack into anything.

Ned and Peter just continued walking back to the lounge; it was almost 7. Flash continued laughing as he walked ahead of the two boys, snatching his lock out of Neds hand on the way.

“Why don’t you stand up to him?”

“You sound just like Mr. Stark.”

“Then all the more reason to do it! And oh my god, do I really sound like him?”

“What would the point be? He’d never actually listen. He’s still bullying us both even after Mr. Stark confronted him.”

“Its worth a shot. But you didn’t answer the more important question.”

“Yes, Ned, you sound exactly like him.”

When they came to the lounge, the team was already waiting there. Mr. Harrington did a quick headcount.

“Looks like we are all here. My therapist said that the anti-depression pills are the best for my case, but I like to think she said McFlurrys.”

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The walk from the hotel to the McDonald’s on the side of the road took 5 minutes. When they got inside it had looked rather packed, but most of the people were part of one of the other groups competing in the competition.

Peter had his Spider-Man suit on underneath, the mask stuffed in his pocket; just for precaution.

When Peter got to the front of the line, Ned behind him, Flash nudged in front of them- or rather next to them.

Peter had his hand down on the counter, the money underneath. His senses must have been falling behind because he didn’t feel the familiar chill just before Flash tore the money out of his grasp.

“I’ll order for my BFF over here.” Flash turned to the assistant behind the counter, “Get this one 2 Big Macs, with extra mayonnaise and tomato, he needs fattening up a bit. I’ll have a chicken burger."

Peter just stared as Flash stood to the side and awaited for both their orders. The bastard had just taken his money, but he couldn’t make a scene here. Not now. Flash had obviously overheard several times that Peter hated tomatoes and wasn’t really particularly fond of mayonnaise.

He couldn’t think why he was afraid to stand up to Flash. He wasn’t scared, there was no real emotion behind any of his reactions. He was just miserable. And he knew that Mr. Stark had just been trying to help by stepping in, but it had backfired. Part of it was that the thought of Flash bullying someone because of his own insecurities other then Peter made him sick.

_He_ could deal with it. _He_ had to.

Ned nudged Peter, “I’ll pay for your food.”

“Thanks.”

“Flash has never bullied you this badly before.”

“It’s because Mr. Stark stepped in. Flash was humiliated. He deserved it, the rotten dick.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Everyone had their meals, all sitting around a long high table. Flash had thrown one of the tomato slices at Peter face, but no one had laughed. Everyone on the decathlon team, being the biggest nerds in the school, didn’t find it remotely funny. Flashes smug smile quickly faded when everyone stared at him, and he made sure to give every one a stink eye. But other then that, you wouldn’t guess he was a bully. He looked like the typical teenage nerd when wolfing down his chicken burger.

“We all ready for tomorrow?” Mr. Harrington asked through a mouthful of chicken nugget.

Michelle spoke up for them, “Yep. Were gonna do some more challenging drills in the morning, so we will meet at about 7:30 for breakfast and crack on.”

A sudden crash echoed around the room, bits of glass shattering everywhere. People in the room gasped at the sudden sound.

“ _Hands up! Put your bloody_ hands up!”

Six people fully disguised ran into the small restaurant in through the broken glass wall. All pointed their guns at either the customers or the workers behind the cashiers.

A little boy shrieked, clinging to his mother, his father moving in front of the defensively. The students from both groups attending the completion raised their hands immediately. Dropping everything. The robbers advanced to the cashier, whiles keeping any eye on everyone.

“Omg what the hell are they doing at a freaking McDonalds? Like just rob the bank!” Charles whispered firmly, but not particularly directed at anyone.

“Do you know how much money McDonalds make? They’re like multi billionaires and shit, aren’t you supposed to be like amazingly smart?! Keep your damn mouth-“

A shot rang out and all eyes turned to the six robbers. They hadn’t shot anyone, the bullet was merely to get people attention.

“Shut the _fuck_ up or we will shoot you.”

Peter needed to change, he needed to find a way to change without anyone noticing.

A robber had the cashier tipping all of the money out and into a rucksack they had brought. The other five criminals had their guns pointed at the customers.

Police lights flashed outside; they couldn’t have been far from the police station.

No one would have heard, and if it weren’t for peters enhanced hearing, he wouldn’t have either,

_‘Take 5 hostages’_

They started to advanced, but no one knew what they were doing, so no one moved.

Apart from Peter.

He took a step forward, and he heard several clicks of the safety locks being unhitched. _Why did these thing always happen to him_? Even when he wasn’t _looking_ for crime.

He didn’t get the chance to speak. One of the criminals snorted and said,

“Take him.”

Peter knew he couldn’t make his move as they put the gun to his head and moved him away from the group. Mr. Harrington looked as if he wanted to say something, but he knew better then to complain.

The robbers moved around the other people in the room, ready to pick out the next four hostages.

“Just take me. Ones enough...” He wasn’t surprised he could find his voice. Unlike everyone else in the room, he faced crime on a daily bases. But only as his alter ego.

Not as Peter Parker.

Peter saw Flash cower behind the table, but the criminal had noticed too. He went around and roughly yanked Flash to his feet. Peter had never seen Flash scared, and this was making him uncomfortable. It was usually a good sign when the bully was scared.

They picked out two other people from the other group, and tore the little boy away from his parents. The kid kicked and screamed, and the robbers hit him every time he attempted escape.

Peter didn’t hesitate to easily break free from the grasp of the criminal and advance towards the boy. But before he could reach him, a robber kicked him from behind and sent him crashing to his knees. A click.

“Restrain this one.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

20 minutes later, the robbers had released the rest of the customers when they realised there was no easy escape from the police at this point. They forced the workers out too, half of them crying and shaking. The criminals knew they would tell the police about the hostages, and they wouldn’t dare advance then.

Peter had his hands tied behind his back, ankles loosely tied and his head forced to face the ground.

They had turned off the lights, so it would have been very difficult for the police to see in. One of the criminals moved to hit Flash, and the teenager had scrunched his eyes shut, tears falling as he prepared himself for the hit.

“Don’t hurt him.” One for the robbers smiled with no emotion other then cruel amusement.

“He’s confident.” He turned to face the other three hostages. “Release the two girls, this is gonna be ugly. Move the baby to window and let his parents see the terror on his face.” They were having way to much fun.

Once most people were out of sight, the robbers moved Flash to his knees. One of them hit him with the barrel of the gun and Flash went face first into the ground. The robber moved to hit him again, but Peter was faster.

He took the mask out of his pocket and shoved it on. And he was practically in love with himself for remembering to wear his web shooters.

He easily broke the bands around his ankles and wrists, and before anyone could move, he webbed the advancing robber in the face. He jumped over Flash and punched the man hard in the jaw.

He turned to find the other criminals stunned.

“Your that fucking Spider freak?”

“To quote Captain America, _language_.”

He quickly webbed one of them on the arm and swung with all his strength, sending the robber into his fellow criminals, sending them crashing to the floor. A few bruises but that was it.

2 of them rose quickly, and Peter webbed one on the cheek and pulled, and the robber came flying towards him, just in time for Peters fist to connect with their chest.

“Speaking of which, are you guys into memes? Cause that one that Tony Stark sent out went _viral_.”

Flash had moved out of the way now. 2 more criminals advanced. Then a third rose. Peter was no expert in karate and had very little knowledge on fighting techniques, but he was pretty sure he could take three at once.

They must have let the little boy go, because he was no where in sight, and they were all ganging up on Peter now.

He caught a fist a throw an to the side of his face, but someone’s leg collided with the back of his knees, and his knees buckled. Someone hit him hard on the side of the face, and his hearing screeched for a second and a few black spots danced in his vision. But he quickly regained focus.

He ducked and dodged a punch, and webbed a criminal in the crotch and tugged as hard as he could. He punched the man right where he had webbed, but judging from the sound of her scream, it had been a woman. _Whoopsy daisies._

He webbed her to the ground, and when he escaped the grasp of the last criminals, he webbed two of the already unconscious ones to the floor. 3 down, 3 to go.

“So, guys, was it really necessary to break the wall? Like, I’m pretty sure the door is automatic.”

He webbed one of the remaining robbers on the shoulder and swung him in the direction of the door. The man skidded and rolled across the floor, and as he neared the door, it started to open, but he was going too fast for it to open completely, so he smashed into the side.

“Defiantly automatic.”

One of the robbers gasped in surprise behind him, but when Peter turned around, he realised it wasn’t because of him. Flash had a knife.

It must have been one from the kitchen, McDonalds cheaply printed on the handle. He had scratched one of the criminals on the back, but the other man was much bigger then him.

He turned and swiftly punched him hard in the stomach. Flash doubled over, but he tried to stab again. Peter reacted quicker and webbed the man back to stop him from moving. The criminal tried to move against him, but he should have known it was hopeless. Captain America had basically dropped a small airport facility on him, he had lifted a warehouse off of himself, a 200 pound man was nothing.

He ran forward and kicked the man in the back when Flash had moved out of the way, sending him flying. Webbed him up.

Peter turned to face the other two criminals. They both held up their hands in surrender, and started to move towards the exit.

“No can do, guys. Sorry!”

They made a run for it, but Peter webbed them together, kicked them over and a secured them to the floor. He made sure all the criminals weren’t able to get up and make a run for it, before taking of his mask and shoving it back in his pocket.

He winced when he felt something sting on the side of his face, and he felt around to find a Lengthy cut and blood dribbling from his ear, probably a big bruise too, but nothing a few hours couldn’t fix.

He felt his gut somersault when he spotted Flash staring at him. It was rather dark in the room since the robbers shut off the lights, and he had had his mask-

“You’re Spider-Man.”

He knew. _He_ knew.

“Flash, I need-“

“Holy fuck Parker.”

“That too, I guess. But-“

The police ran into the room, guns raised. “We didn’t do anything! It-it was them.” Flash panicked and pointed at the criminals, all, but one, unconscious.

“We know, security cameras caught the break in. Are you both alright?”

They clearly weren’t 100%. Flash was still holding his side, his face pale and sweaty. Peter had probably very obvious injuries on the side of his face, and sweating, but fine other then that.

“W-were good.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_“Are you guys okay?”_

“Oh my god what the hell happened in there?”

“It was too dark to see in, how did you guys defeat the criminals? No- you guys couldn’t have-“

“Were you scared?”

A flood of questions came at them all at once from their team members. Peter was scared rather shitless if Flash said anything.

“S-Spider-Man saved me. Uh…” a few of the decathlon members stared at them, mouths agape.

“Wow! Is he still here now?”

“Uh, did you guys happen to see my burger undamaged? Because I don’t think I’m getting a refund.”

“How the hell did he get in there without anyone noticing?”

“How come Spider-Man is always there to save us?”

Those last two questions caught Peter off guard, and his face heated with nerves. He turned to Flash, as most of the questions were directed at him. The other teenager was silent for little while before replying.

“Um… I guess Spider-Man is always there to save everybody.” He gave Peter a quickly look, “He left through the back way, before the police came in.” He regained a bit of his posture, “But I got a few good punches in too. You have no idea how cool it is to fight along side Spider-man.”

Peter couldn’t help but smile at that. Not just a Flashes attempt to remain cool, which was difficult with the constant waver of his voice, but at the fact that Flash had slipped his secret. Yet.

All of them were briefly checked by paramedics. They disinfected and covered the cut of Peters face, and checked Flash for anything more then a large bruise. But they were soon dismissed. Parents and guardians were on their way, luckily it wasn’t a long drive.

“Parker?” Flash ran up to Peter, and made sure that they were out of earshot.

“Flash, please, this has to stay secret.”

“What do I look like, an armadillo? I know that, Parker...”

“I-“

“But that’s not what I came over to talk to you about.”

Peter raised an eyebrow, “Do I really want to hear this?”

Flash faked gagged, “Don’t make this any cheesier then it already is, Penis… uh, thank you.. for saving me. In return, I will keep your secret.” Peter smiled,

“Thank you.”

The look of disbelief was still evident on Flashes face. “But like, out of all people, you’re Spider-man?”

“You got a problem?”

Flash shook his head, “But Spider-man is so cool- and you’re so… not.”

“Thank you, Flash. I strive not to be cool.”

Flash smirked, “But that doesn’t change anything between us, Parker! You’re still a penis, just not around Stark!” Flash snickered as he turned and walked away, but Peter could hear the difference in his voice.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“McDonald’s sounded eventful.” Was the first thing Tony said when Peter answered the phone.

“Yes, the competition was fantastic, and thank you, we won second.” The teen didn’t register his own sarcasm as it slipped out. “Oh, sorry, Mr. Stark, that wasn’t-“

“Taking after the Starks, eh?” There was a hint of amusement in his voice. “Are you alright? Or did the News exaggerate the “McBurgers flew in every direction’ part?”

“Was that really in there?” There was a chuckle on the other end.

“You’re too gullible for your own good, Kid.”

“I’m fine.”

”Good work on the competition, I’m surprised the team stayed.”

"Yeah, our supervisor kinda lost his shit, but other then that it was good.”

“And what about the bully? I heard Thomson on the News.” That was not something Peter had expected.

“Uh, Flash’s good…”

“You stand up to him?”

“Eh, I guess. Like he knows my secret-“

“Seriously?”

“There was nothing I could do, he was there!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure a guy can keep a secret. Keep an eye on him, whatever kid. You call that standing up for yourself?”

“Sure-“

“Your gonna be the death of me- holy mother of Thor- please don’t tell me I need to come round again- What am I your body guard? I’m kidding, kid. But-“

“Mr. Stark, your blabbering on now.”

“Probably were you get it from.”

“Uh, how?”

“Pete, I’m a busy man.” Lies, “I got things to do, Buddy. I just wanted to, you know, check in. So-“

“Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

“Uh, cool.”

There was a long pause before either spoke again. Peter had been texting Ned. The decathlon team stayed at the hotel, their families stayed with them and watched the competition, which was nice. May was a little shook; she didn’t like sitting at home when Peter was out of the border of Queens, were it would take her much longer to get to him if he got into trouble.

“Hey, I have nothing going on next to Saturday. In fact I’m gonna let my inner sykik kick in and tell you I’m going to be bored out of my mind. I know you wanna come see my workspace one time, so why don’t you-“

“Yes.”

“You di-“

“This is an honour, Mr. Stark, wow. Yes. You can have Happy pick me up at 9 am, that would be great. Sorted. Thank you!”

The kid hung up, probably overwhelmed and excited to tell his nerd friend that Tony Stark had just invited him to visit his lab next week.

Tony smiled.

Maybe this kid was what he needed. What he had been missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are certain things I'm not great at, like sometimes I it's hard to type on the iPad and spell check changes it to something else. So if you see Completion, it supposed to say competition. Please comment and tell me what you thought!


	4. The Crushing Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Please ignore all my mistakes, and I hope you enjoy!

4.

“What do you think?”

Peter scanned the room Tony had led him to. There were some cupboards around the edges of the room, and since they were underground, there were no windows. A few fake plants and pictures, and the light was soft. The room was long and as wide as Peters living room.

“Looks really awesome, Mr. Stark.”

Tony eyed him, “You sound disappointed?”

“No! Not at all, Mr. Stark! I just… I’m speechless.”

“You expected more?”

“What? No, I mean, this place is bigger then my kitchen, bedroom, and living room combined and probably my future. So where do you work?”

Tony laughed, he couldn’t believe how serious the kid sounded. “You actually think this is my workspace? Where I make my iron man suits and all the fancy tech?”

Peters face immediately flashed with realisation and embarrassment.

“Oh.”

Tony put a hand on Peters shoulder. “Relax kid, I’m just teasing you. You’re so red you look like you’re about to burst. This is just the interconnecting room from the elevator to the Lab.”

He led the teenager to the other end of the hallway. The wall had no visible door, but Peter didn’t question it. Tony placed his hands in very specific spots, one level with his hip and the the other with his hairline. He tapped twice, and the whole wall moved back and to the left in one swift motion.

Peter stared, awestruck.  

The room was the size of two football pitches, the ceiling high enough to sandwich 10 big cars between the ceiling and the floor. Tables were set up all around the room, high cupboards on the wall, and the room filled with large machinery. There were displays, empty and occupied for the iron man suits, and other finished products. There were models and materials and tools spread all over the desks, sketches and prototypes.

It was every geniuses candy land.

“Shit…”

**“Foul language is not allowed, Mr. Parker.”**

FRIDAYS voice echoed through the mansions size hall.

“Oh, sorry- uh-“ Peter turned to give Tony the what-are-you-up-to look, “oh, really?”

**“Yes, it’s called the Bad Baby Boy protocol.”**

Tony just grinned when Peter looked like he wanted to protest, but didn’t.

“Should have seen that coming…”

“Yes, you should’ve.”

Peter ran his hands over the closest work desk, looking at some of the sketches, and the model of the machine next to it. It appeared to be a large gauntlet, bigger then the iron man suits, but with the same style and structure.

“That is something I was trying to finish earlier, I need Bruce to give it a look over and maybe a test or two.”

“ _Bruce_? Like _Bruce Banner_? So- is this-“

“The hulk buster gauntlet, yes.”

“Is-is Bruce Banner here?”

“Not yet, I’m hoping he’ll pop in soon, later today. Haven’t seen him in a while. I’ll introduce you.”

“I’m gonna _meet_ Doctor Bruce Banner? That is…”

“Awesome? You bet your ass, it is.”

**“As I recall, this protocol has not had specific triggers assigned, only being created a few hours ago, and therefore, you are not allowed to use such language either, sir.”**

Peter smirked in Tony’s direction.

“Touché. But it will keep me in check around you, kid… is _ass_ seriously on the list?”

**“Yes, sir. Would you like me to play the recording of the list of words you gave me?”**

“No, no, were good. Thank you, Friday.”

Tony turned to Peter, “So, where do you wanna start, Kid?”

 

Peter was handling everything in the lab as if it were made of glass. Tony had said he could play around with some of the stuff to tackle his web-shooters, as that was the part of the suit he always wore. Peter went straight to his right web-shooters, which had been broken a few weeks ago. Him and Ned had managed to make it decent enough again, but with all this technology, he could make it better then it had been originally. Mr. Stark didn’t know about the web-shooter, though.

Tony had ran off a little while ago to get something, Peter had just assumed it would be his phone or a StarkPad or a coffee. He hadn’t expected Tony to return with a Bruce Banner.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Hey, kid,” Tony gestured over to Peter, who looked like he had just seen a ghost, but a happy ghost, of course.

Peter walked over, his hands visibly shaking as he rotated the connecting mechanism of his web-shooters as if it were a fidget spinner. Dear lord did Tony hate those. Bruce smiled at him and extended his hand,

“You must be Peter?”

The boy nodded rapidly, his breathing quick and he stuttered with his words “Doctor. Banner- wow, um, y-your work on gamma radiation is incredible. Wow.”

Bruce smiled at the praise, “Thank you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” All the colour drained from Peters face, but Tony was quick to jump in.

“Yeah, all the basics, a small, white nerd. Nothing major.” Nothing secret, Tony’s eyes seemed to say, and Peter felt a great deal lifted off of his shoulders.

Bruce took a minute to scan Tony’s work space, mesmerised, “This is rather impressive, Tony.”

“Oh, I know. You know, because I designed it.” He answered immediately, casually. He gestured around the room,

“Well, Pete, Banner here has a bit of time on his hands, how about we have a science bros session?”

Bruce turned to Peter, “You’re into science?”

“Oh, obviously. Look at him, _his shirt_ \- speaking of which, we need to look at your wardrobe-“

“You will be if you’ve read my paper on gamma radiation. Where are you from?”

“Q-queens, sir.” Bruce nodded in response.

“Maybe some button up shirts, or a leather jacket, and a tuxedo-“

“Uh, no thanks, Mr. Stark.”

Tony shrugged, “Your loss, kiddo.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The three worked around for a little bit. Bruce and Peter mostly just testing out the high tech equipment, but deep in focus. It was only when Tony went to pick out the iron man suit he wanted to make changes and adaptions to that Bruce got the chance to actually talk to Peter.

“So, you intern for Tony?” Peter was a little surprised at the question, after being submersed in his work for the previous 45 minutes.

“Yeah- Yes. For the last 3 or 4 months.”

“Didn’t know Stark had started hiring interns. I guess it’s quite refreshing.”

“Uh, actually, I’m the only one… I think.”

Bruce gave Peter a look. “Fair enough. Do you know what attracted his attention?”

This was where Peter got a little bit lost. Unless, of course, he didn’t have to wear his face of lies.

“Well, I go to a school for the biggest, geekiest science nerds in Queens… so, maybe from there?”

They worked in silence for a little bit longer.

“May I ask something, sir?” Peter looked up hesitantly at the older man, slightly anxious of what he was about to say.

“Of course, Peter.”

“Where were you? At the event of fight between Mr. Stark and Captain America?” Peter regretted it immediately. There was very limited footage and information shared with anyone who wasn’t present at the scene, how would Peter know that the Hulk wasn’t there?

Bruce didn’t seem to assume though, Peter thought he probably didn’t know much about the fight himself. “It’s a… long story, let’s say. After what happened with Ultron, a lot of, excuse my French, _shit_ happened for me and-“

**“Dr. Banner, I apologise for the interruption, but such language is not permitted in this room.”**

“Oh, for heavens sake FRIDAY, turn that bloody protocol off!” They heard Tony shout from across the room.

“As I was saying, I got a little, um, lost, you could say.” He didn’t say anymore, and Peter felt it might have been a complication or maybe even a difficult subject to talk about.

“Sorry.”

“What?” Bruce raised his eyebrows, “Nothing to be sorry for, Peter. It’s nothing sensitive, but a lot happened, and… it may create a problem in the future.” He paused briefly, “But let’s not concern ourself with that right now. How’s school?”

“ _School_? School is pretty good, I have an English exam next week, Ned and I have been studying.” He hadn't realised that Bruce knew he was still in school.

“Sounds fun- can you pass me the pliers , please?” As Peter did so, Tony came back over to them, his chosen suit flying behind him.

“Alright,” He rubbed his hands together in a metaphorical sense. “I need to run some tests, and I need a volunteer.”

Peter resisted the urge to put his hand up, and thankfully Mr. Stark wasn’t waiting for an actually volunteer. He was just going to pick.

“Peter, I need you take off the repulsor tank, Bruce, be a doll and dismantle the over layer armour, leaving the mainframe.” Tony grabbed a miniature screw driver, “I’m-a dive into the main circuit.”

Bruce shrugged casually, “Did I miss something, is there a new definition for volunteer?”

“Ahh, you see…” Stark made some random hand signs, and the iron man suit flipped over and laid itself down on the table in front of them, the thrusters immediately shutting off. “I like to add a touch of confusing, a spoonful of fucking ridiculous,” He waited and listened for Karen to chide him, but no such thing came, “And coat it in a good dosing of Stark.”

He learned over the table and opened up the faceplate, handing it off to the side to Dum-e, and got to work.

 

They were so engrossed in their work they didn’t even realise the burgers that sat on the table next to the one they were working on. But when they got round to eating them, they were stone cold. They ate and worked.

Peter had finished disabling the Repulsor, and was helping Bruce remove the over armour.

“Mr. Stark, what do you plan on doing to the suit anyway?” He asked as he took a bite of his burger, carefully wrenching off part of the chest plate.

“I want to be able to use the suit only with the basic main frame. You know, if I’m out like, kicking ass, but part of my suit’s destroyed, or my bluetooth connection becomes faulty, I need to be able to work with half a suit. So I’m testing out the stability of the frames I’ve already made.” He fiddled with something inside the helmet, and then finished his burger in a big mouthful.

“So are you going to asses the stability in the lab?” Bruce asked.

“Yes…” Tony wiped his greasy hands on his trousers and took off his fine-focus goggles. “Infact, I’m going to test it right now.”

“Mr. Stark, we’ve only removed one side of the armour.”

“More importantly, you haven’t designed the mainframe to withstand certain forces, have you?”

Tony rolled his eyes, and gave an exasperated sigh, “Watch and learn, children.” He hooked his hand into one of the gauntlets, there being a large space between the 2 metal bars of the mainframe. ”FRIDAY, turn off all the little technical wonders, charge all power to thrusters and communication system.”

“Thrusters? Mr. Stark-“

“Chill, kid. I blow stuff up in here all the time!”

Bruce looked rather uneasy. But Tony Stark didn’t become a multi-billionaire through luck, he knew what he was doing.

The iron man suit proceeded to wrap around Tony from his left fist. The front half was now just wires and metal bars, and they could still see Tony’s clothes. They could see his face, but the rest of his head was covered by the helmet, the faceplate discarded on the table. The back half of the suit that had been laid on the table was still fully intact, just a little lose from missing the front half.

“Who’s ready to blow some shit up?”

**“Master Stark, I advise you are careful when aiming and firing, not only has the force the suit can take decreased significantly, but the work being done to the car park has temporarily weakened the structure for this laboratory.”**

“Gave me a scare there, FRI. Thought you were gonna tell me to _‘keep my unfriendly language to myself’_.”

He turned to the back wall, where one of his larger mechanical helping hands stood.

“This ones under maintenance?” He turned the look at Bruce and Peter, expecting them to object. But instead of giving them enough time to do so, he pointed and aimed his gauntlet at the machine, and fired.

It made a loud crash as the force tipped it over, little bits showering down like mini fireworks. Tony stumbled backwards, threatening to fall over due to the lack of half of his suit. He’d taken double the impact he would have done with the full suit. He straightened and punched his fists in the air,

“Yes! Now that, my boys, is how it’s done.”

He immediately turned to an empty display, and fired. Peters senses went off, and within seconds the glass shattered and spewed all over the place. Tony, being the closet, just turned around and let the glass embed itself in the back of the the suit.

“You guys might wanna move over a little.” He aimed for a table just a few feet away from Peter and Bruce, who both quickly scrambled behind Tony. Everything on the table clattered away from the force, the top of the table scorched black and little fire samples evident.

Tony then turned around and fired at whatever was behind him. And that thing was Bruce.

Peters senses went off like crazy, the blood in his ears pounding. He grabbed Bruce by the arm and pulled hard, tugging him out of the way with mere seconds to spare. Once Bruce recovered from the sudden shock, he looked between Tony and where he had been standing seconds ago.

“Oh, _fuck_.” Starks face had been completely wiped of all humour, and he had paled a because of his own stupidity. “Fuck, I’m so sorry man, I had no idea you where there-“

“I-I know it was an accident Tony.” Bruce’s voices was a little shaken, “But this is going to start getting out of hand.”

Tony’s shook his head, “Y-yeah, I’m sorry, so no hard feelings, right? We’re good?”

Bruce nodded warily, “Just do us a favour, and don’t blow anything else up?”

“Got yourself a deal.”

Bruce turned to face Peter, “Thank you, for pulling me out of the way. You were very quick.”

Peters face heated again with nerves, “Your welcome, Dr. Banner,” Although in his head it sounded more like _holy shit I just saved Bruce Banners life how the holy smoulders am I so chill right now oh wait I’m never chilled I’m a Parker HAHA_ “Uh, just a talent. Good reflexes, I guess…”

Bruce eyed him suspiciously, but just nodded in response. Tony sighed and sat in one of the chairs. The room was a right royal state. Sketch paper everywhere, debris carpeting the floor. Did Tony Stark care? No. He liked working in the moment, not worrying about how to correct it.

They tweaked the suit a little more, but Tony chose to stay inside of it. So they worked on it as he moved from table to table, playing around with the equipment. They left the back half on though.

“You know,” Tony tossed a spanner in his left hand, “We should make a ‘science bros’ TV show. We could call it _Stark and his toys_ \- no wait that sounds wrong.”

“No.”

“How about, _The Genius, the doctor and the minor?_ No wait that’s also inappropriate.”

“How is that inappropriate, Mr. Stark?” Peter asked, but to be honest he did want to know the answer.

Bruce sighed, putting the equipment down on the desk and looked at his watch. “I better be off. The drive to the hotel is long, and it’s already three thirty.” Peter had been there since 9:30, and he hadn’t bothered to keep track of how long he had been there. May expected him home about 5.

“Nonsense!” Tony turned to Bruce, “This compound was originally made to house all members of the avengers. Stay here.”

“No thanks, that sounds a little too intimidating at the moment, I only recently got back to earth.” Tony and Peter froze, and both simultaneously said,

“ _What_?” Well, Tony said, _what the fuck?_ And Peter said _Pardon, sir?_ But it was similar enough.

Bruce put his hands up and shrugged, “My apologise, a lot has happened. But, no offensive, but I would prefer not to get mixed up in this ‘taking sides business’.”

“None taken…But we need to have a chat about that landing on earth shit you’re trying to pull there.” Tony stared at Bruce with a question lingering in his eyes, and Bruce nodded in response.

“I will be on my way soon, just going to go collect my belongings.” He shook Peters hand, “It was a pleasure meeting you, Peter, I hope we see more of each other again soon.” He turned to Tony, “And I know there is no escaping you, is there?”

Tony smirked at his own reputation, and even Peter resisted the urge to role his eyes

 

 

“Well, kid, your aunt is gonna be expecting you home soon.” Tony said once Bruce was in the elevator. Peter nodded; he knew his aunt would start to worry if he wasn’t home, even when she knew exactly where he was. And it was a long drive. But Tony grinned, a grin that made Peter want to run for cover.

“What do you say we resume our shit-blowing-up episode?” Peter couldn’t help but smile; it had been pretty badass.

“But won’t Dr. Banner hear or feel it? It took like 15 minutes to get from the main entrance to here.”

“And what is he gonna do, kid? Put me in the corner to think about what I did? _Relax_.” Peter nodded hesitantly,

“Lets do it.” Tony pointed both blasters straight ahead of him, aiming for the counter against the wall.

It exploded, all the contents spilling out in a heaping mess. “What about the scrap bin?” Peter pointed at the bin, and iron man aimed there next. The blast hit it full force, sending debris everywhere.

“Uh, the spare equipment rack?”

They blew stuff up like that for a few more minutes.

Tony was aiming and firing in every direction. He was getting used to the impact, which meant his next few metal frames would need fewer adjustments then he thought.

They were just having fun now.

“Hey, kid, dodge this!” Tony aimed and waited until Peter was ready, and fired a slow shot at him. Peter jumped ridiculous high and easily dodged the blast, and when he landed, he gracefully bowed. Tony laughed.

He aimed next at what he had thought to be another display, and fired a powerful shot, full force. This time it knocked him off of his feet. He sat upwards just as quickly as he fell, and began to get to his feet.

But that was the least of his problems.

He looked up to find that he had completely missed the display case, and instead, there was a smouldering hole right in the centre of one of the pillars holding up the ceiling. The pillar was bending, the pressure from the car park directly above them building up on it. There was dust falling from the ceiling.

“Oh my God are you okay Mr. Stark?” Peters squeaky voice came from his left.

Tony nodded, too busy watching the pillar holding up part of the ceiling- or trying to.

Then suddenly, it crashed.

Tony heard Peter scream, and he could only hope that the kid had gotten away in time as the ceiling came crashing down on iron man.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Mr. Stark? _Mr. Stark_!” Peter yelled at the top of his voice as he stared at the ceiling, a crumbled mess of concrete now a pile on the ground.

Right on top of his mentor.

There was car, sitting on top of the pile. A gapping hole in the ceiling, the edges around the hole crumbling slightly.

He had managed to scrambled away not seconds before Tony was buried. He felt the guilt rise up in the pit of his gut; he had just left Mr. Stark there. He’d ran away to save himself, and left his mentor to save himself. Spider-Man didn’t do that.

He felt a tear roll down his cheek as he continued to scream Mr. Stark, but after a few minutes, it had turned into Tony. He was trying to lift chunks of cement off of his Hero , feeling like the villain for not thinking of Tony first.

“ _My fault_ , this is _my_ fault…”

He murmured continuously, constantly tasting the salt in his tears. He got no responses.

There was so much debris and chunks of concrete, his fingers already rubbed red raw. He didn’t want to imagine what Tony looked like. He could only hope that the older man had managed to twist onto his front and let the back half of the suit take the impact. But they had taken half of the armour off. Crap.Tony took so much more impact then what he should have done.

“W-hats up-“ a stuffy cough, “-kid?”

“Holy crap, Mr. Stark?!” Tony’s voice echoed around the lab, coming from FRIDAYS speakers.

“H-hey… language.” He sounded out of breath, wheezing. He was struggling. “I-I connected m-my helmet to FRI’s system-“ he coughed harshly, “Handy, eh?”

Peter cringed when Tony voice cracked from the dryness. It sounded painful.

“Mr. Stark, are you okay?” _What a stupid question_ , Peter silently chided himself, _no ones okay after been squashed by half a car park._

“I-I’m fine kid… please t-tell me you g-ot away? A-re you alright?”

At least Tony could hear him to. “I’m going to get your out. Hold tight.” Peter completely ignored Tony’s question, deeming it irrelevant and unimportant.

Before Tony could reply, Peter murmured, “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark,” He whimpered slightly as he heaved a large chunk of concrete off the pile, clearing the path.”I should have a gotten to you. I-I should have-"

“What? Kid, stop.”

“What? Mr. Stark, this is my fault-“

“Alright, Peter, I’m gonna make th-this short and snappy-y…” Peter froze, waiting for Tony to continue, “Your can’t s-save everyone, k-kid. You know- th-this was my f-fault.”

His voice echoed through the room, and then in the back of Peters mind. But he couldn’t get distracted. Not now.

The sound of the crashing and breaking continued as peter hauled up the concrete and let it fall to the ground behind him. He probably looked like some superhuman robot with the speed he was moving at with the weight he was lifting.

“P-Peter?” Tony’s voice came from the rubble. Peter hadn’t even realised how vulnerable iron man had sounded.

“Yes, Mr. Stark?”

“I-I can hear you trying to dig me up, k-kid. I’ve called for h-help, do me a f-favour and don’t put your f-freaking back out trying t-to save me. Just stop, w-wait for h-help.”

**“Master Stark has been under the weight of several tons for 5 minutes and 34 seconds. The suit will only provide protect for another few minutes, another 5 at the absolute maximum. The pressure will break the armour. You have under 4 minutes and 30 seconds. May I start a countdown?”**

Peter hesitated, comprehending her words, “No, thank you FRIDAY.”

**“Help will arrive in approximately 7 minutes and 15 seconds.”**

There was a silence that wouldn’t have been recognisable if not for Tony, “Can I just say it, then?” Nothing, “I’m screwed.”

Peter shook his head, although he knew Tony couldn’t see it. “No, forgive me, Mr. Stark, but _shut up.”_ He continued to move things, but when he heard a sharp gasp from FRIDAYS speakers.

“Tony?” He asked in a quite voice.

“S-sorry, kid. I think you’re close.” That was good.

Peter was close to the car now. It was a large car, but it wasn’t a truck, if he removed it, it would release almost 2 tons. He made his way over, and hooked his fingers under the rim of the car. They were bleeding, his nails scraped and broken. He lifted with all his might as he lifted the car up to his chest. He felt his arms shake under the pressure.

“Peter?” Said teenager almost dropped the 4000 pound car at the different voice. He turned his head to find Bruce and Pepper standing behind the rubble, looks of concern, panic, and disbelief fighting over the dominant expressions of _oh shit_ on both their faces.

“Oh, hey…” He tried to hold the car in place, but it was too heavy, and it was either drop it or throw it off completely. And option one wasn’t considerable.

So, with no other way out of it, Peter lifted the car over his head, placed a hand on the underbelly of the car, and flipped it over and off of the pile. It crashed into the collapsed pillar with a deafening sound.

“Okay- that either sounded really g-good or really, _really_ bad.” Tony’s voice shocked and already confused Pepper and Bruce.

“Oh my, Tony?! Where are you?” Pepper moved around the concrete pile and scanned the room with panic evident in her eyes.

Bruce just stared at the pile. Peter, confirming his theory, just proceeded to lift the concrete off the pile.

“ **Tony Stark now has another 8 minutes, approximated. The car released a lot of pressure, and help will be here very soon.”**

Pepper stared at the pile, petrified.

“Tony?! What the _FUCK_ -“

“Good afternoon, da-rling. How you holdin’ u-up?”

“I’m going to divorce you the next day after the marriage.”

“Sounds about right. I’ll make arrangements.”

The attempt to lighten the mood was feeble, but something anyway.

“You-“ Bruce was staring right at Peter as the teen proceeded to lift off the cement, part of the armour now visible, meaning Tony had turned to his front. “How are you doing th-“

“Doctor Banner-“ Peter paused as he lifted one of the biggest slabs of cement. He wanted to dedicate all his concentration to getting Tony out. He wasn’t surprised by the adrenaline rush. “I promise I will- explain.”

He blocked Bruce out then. Tony was stirring underneath the bricks and stone slabs, and the armour was so obviously scratched. Peter felt the tears run new as he lifted the last of the debris,

“My fault…”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The waiting room was just a long, white, fancy hallway. The Stark infirmary wasn’t very eventful.

But in Peters mind, it was crowded. Too crowded.

He was leaning against the wall, opposite him Bruce, Pepper pacing nervously outside the door. May was on her way.

Bruce kept glancing up at Peter, but the look he gave him made it clear that the older man had pieced it together. He probably knew more about peters alter-ego then he let on.

“That’s why Tony takes such an interest in you.” Peter could now feel two pairs of eyes on him, and he looked down at his feet. “Why he cares about you so much.”

“It’s a long story… I guess.” Peter looked at them and shrugged. Bruce rubbed his hands over his face, and murmured, “I can’t believe Tony.”

Peter was no stranger to that tone of voice, “I already had these powers. It has nothing to do with Mr. Stark.”

“So, what are you, exactly?” Pepper was looking him up and down.

Bruce answered for him. “I’ve heard that Tony is spending a lot of time with a young vigilante called Spider-Man.”

Peter just nodded as Pepper gaped.

 

A little while later, Pepper went in to talk to Tony- or rather yell- when he was fully stable.

“You fight for a good cause, Peter.” Bruce waited until they made eye contact. “I've seen you all over the News. You’re just as much of a hero as an avenger. Don’t forget that.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Hey, what’s up, kid?” Tony asked as soon as Peter walked through door.

The older man had clearly refused a hospital bed; he wasn’t that badly injured. He had a brace on his left foot, a few bandages around his arms and legs and a few broken fingers. Other then that, he was okay. He was doing his best to look casual on the sofa scrolling through his phone with his good hand.

His iron man suit, or what was left of it, was a heap in the bin.

“Hey, Mr. Stark. Are you-“

“I’m fine, Pete, _jeez_. Everyone seems to be asking me that.”

“With all do respect, Mr. Stark, you were almost crushed by about 3 tons of cement and metal.”

“Touché.” Peter stood in front of the couch Tony was on for a little while.

They were alone, the door had been shut by the nurse. Bruce had had to head home, but he would check in with Tony as soon as he could. Pepper had already spoken to Stark and whipped him in to shape; Peter heard the whole thing.

“Look, kid, I take full responsibility. I put you on the spot. _Hell_ , I put your _life_ at risk.” Tony’s voice turned to a whisper as he weighed the possible outcomes of his actions.

“Mr. Stark, look at me. I’m okay, untouched! I-I- it was you who got hurt. I-“

“Kid, this conversation is going to start getting really depressing, real soon.”

He moved his position on the couch, supporting himself with his good hand. “This was _my_ fault, but I’ve made many mistakes, so this isn’t much of a surprise. But, _thank_ you.”

Peter looked up at his mentor, his eyes red rimmed. “Why?”

“Because you saved my life. If you had waited, like I had told you to, I probably wouldn’t have been here right now. I’m lucky these were my only injuries. But that weight would have crushed me after too long. And although, you shouldn't disobey me like that, thank you, Peter.”

He smiled, and Peter smiled back.

“I guess I know… what it’s like to be trapped like that. I didn’t want to think about it, you stuck under there, I couldn’t just stand there and be useless-“

“Hey, what do you mean you _know_ what’s it like to be trapped like _that_?”

Peter hadn’t even considered the fact that Tony didn’t know what happened that night.

“Uh, sorry, it’s nothing. This isn’t about me b-“

“ _Tell me,_ Peter.”

He hesitated “Uh, do you remember the homecoming night? Um, before I crashed the plane, I went to confront liz’s dad… really Mr. Stark, it was n-“

“ _Go on_ , kid.”

“Uh, he dropped a warehouse on me.”

Tony looked confused as his brain worked. “Wait, you suit didn’t pick anything like that up, and I…” his face drained of colour as he remembered. “I took the suit away from you.” His voice morphed into a murmur.

“It was fine, I lifted the building off of myself, and I was on my way. Never been better.”

“I took it away from you when you needed it most.” Tony hadn’t even heard Peter, or if he had, he hadn’t considered his words.

He looked up at Peter, regret and guilt staining his expression.

“I’m so sorry.”

Peter didn’t answer. Instead, he carful wrapped his mentor in a hug. Not an awkward hug, but a meaningful one.

And Tony hugged back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a surprising amount of swearing in this when I re-read :/ Well, that's another chapter! I really hope you enjoyed it, despite and mistakes I may I have made! And believe me, I know they are there.  
> Thank you for all your comment and kudos! Pleas tell me what you thought of the chapter :D  
> And omg the Tony and Peter bonding AHHH xxx


	5. The Infection Inaction pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW! I have LITERALLY been trying to post for a week but my iPad kept lagging. But this chapter is so long that it is longer then TWO REGULAR CHAPTERS! THE CHAPTERS AREN'T EVEN THAT INTERESTING. Oh well, it'll be in two parts.
> 
> WARNING: I advise Squeamish viewers to proceed with caution as there are descriptive scenes.

5.Pt. 1

  
May sat spread out on the sofa, with a plate of leftovers and a large fast food cup of coke. Game of thrones was playing on the TV, at the highest volume. She rarely got to watch it, as whenever Peter was out on patrol, she was almost always working. And no matter how many times he had begged her to let him watch it, it wasn’t happening.

  
‘ _You are far too young to watch it._ ’ Would always be her answer

  
‘ _But Spider-Man isn’t_.’ He’d always retort.

  
Despite the current mood of the episode, she smiled to herself. Her nephew was outside at that very moment, saving lives. She worried endlessly about him, but his intentions was a reliever.

  
She finished the episode, and went straight onto the next, as she was still a few seasons behind. It was about half way though when a thump echoed from down the hall.

  
May instinctively went to check her watch; 21:03. Peters curfew wasn’t for another two hours; he was usually out until the very last possible second. May sat in a frozen state for another few seconds, but as soon she came back to reality, she flew to her feet and made her way to Peters bedroom faster then she thought possible.

  
When she barged through the door, she wasn’t sure what’s she had been expecting.  
Peter sat crossed legged on the floor, his suit hanging loosely off him. He looked uncomfortable in the position, as if he was trying to mask something.

  
“Um, Peter?” May raked her eyes over her nephew. “What was that?”

  
His head was hung low, his breaths laboured. He looked up at her, his face dirty and sweaty, his mask discarded to the side. But it was a very subtle smudged blood on his cheek that caught her attention.

  
“Uh, hey May.” His voiced quivered, and he spoke as if he hadn’t heard her question.

  
May immediately paced over to Peter and knelt down, looking into his eyes, “What happened? Are you alright?”

  
Peter seemed surprised for a mere second before he nodded, and asked, “uh, yeah, why-why wouldn’t I be?”

  
He struggled to his feet, and as May rose with him, she held out her hands as he swayed. His hand that had been clutching his left rib cage now hung limp at his side, and he suddenly stumbled forward. May caught him before he could fall.

  
“ _Whoa_! Peter, what is it? Look at me.”

  
He lifted his head and met her eyes, his face pale and streaked with fatigue.

  
“I… I think I was hit?” The fact that he didn’t actually _know_ was not reassuring. May quickly moved him over to the back of the room and sat him on his bed.

  
She quickly pulled the loose suit off of his shoulders and let it fall, obviously leaving him with his underwear and dignity. Her eyes traced his body until she found the problem.  
Peter had his hand covering a part between his lower left rib cage and stomach, the blood and dirt oozing out the sides. She carefully pried away his hand, trying to ignore the pain stricken groan he let out.

  
“Peter, lay down. Now.” She pushed the teenager gently but firmly by the shoulders, and he abided.

  
“Is it-bad?” The quiver in his voice was painfully obvious. With out replying, she ran out the room to grab the first aid kit and towels. She came back, and Peter was staring at the wall, but she panicked and thought he had passed out.

  
She shook his shoulder hard, and he winced, tuning to face her. She mumbled ‘sorry’ and took a shit load of paper towels, gently dabbing them on the wound. There was so much blood she couldn’t tell what it was.

  
Peter suppressed a cry every time she dabbed the wound. He hadn’t even been patrolling for very long when it had happened. He was fighting everyday crime, and a suddenly a force caught him off guard, and sent him crashing to the ground.

  
Next thing he knew was that he was treading out of a dirty alley, blood smeared his every footprint, his hand instinctively at his side. And he knew he had to go and seek help.  
It wasn’t like when he was stabbed through his hand, or when he landed awkwardly and twisted his ankle, or even when he broke his femur (that was excruciating). He knew when those things had happened, and what had happened.

  
Once he had fallen, he didn’t acknowledge the injury. He didn’t even know if it had come from that incident, but that could be the only possible time; when he was distracted. He had carried on fighting, but after a while he noticed the blood, the pain.  
“Hey, Peter? Hey.” May was snapping her fingers in front of his face; he must have zoned out. “Stay with me, tough guy.”

  
Peter attempted a feeble smile, “Sorry, May.” Even he knew how quiet his voice was, “How's it look?"

  
His aunt was staring down at the injury, in deep focus, and he found himself attempting to sit up and crane his neck down to take a look at it. But, when she noticed his teeth grit in pain, she quickly pushed him back down.

  
“Peter, can you tell me what happened? What do you remember?” May knew that Peters healing factor would heal this up easily, but if there was something in there, it would be a different story entirely. And it looked suspiciously like a bullet hole.

  
“I’m not sure when I got it… I think there were guns? Maybe… _maybe_ …” he trailed off, focusing more on staying conscious; it was no surprise considering the fully soaked towels next to May. He must have lost more then two and half pints, as he was starting to become incoherent.

  
“Okay, Peter… I’m gonna have to dig around a little bit.” May didn’t give him a choice as she took out the medical tweezers from the first aid kit. Peter nodded; he’d preformed very minor ‘surgeries’ on himself before, but the thought and feeling always had his insides turning. But if he left what was in there inside, they might literally start doing just that.

  
“Yeah, yeah I think I-I can feel something in there…”

  
“You _can_? Why didn’t you say something in the first place?”

  
“I-I thought I just did.” May rolled her eyes, but it was mainly to cover the fact that she was concerned.

  
She went in; and it took all of Peters might not to rattle the apartment down, but he gave a painful cry as she scooped around the hole in his side. She could be quite aggressive when armed with tweezers.

  
He could feel whatever was inside of him go a little deeper, and a white hot flash of pain spiked is whole torso.

  
“Uh, May-“

  
“Almost got it.” She shushed him immediately.

  
Peters vision blacked out for a second, but it quickly refocused, at least the best it could in the current situation. When he looked back at May, she was studying what had come out.  
It was a large, disheveled sphere, red from his blood. May quickly put it aside and rummaged through the first aid kit for something; Peter assumed bandages.

  
“Hey, th-thanks May.” Peter gave her a weak thumbs up, “I’m g-good…”

  
“No Peter, not _good_.” Peter did his best to raise an eyebrow at her, but she continued to explain anyway, “You saw what we can assume is a bullet, it was covered in gunk, Peter. It’s probably left all sorts of _shit_ in the hole.”

  
Peter considered this for a moment, “May, my healing factor…” He paused for a moment to regain his breath, “…Will take care of it- I-I think. And-“

  
“How do you _know_ that, Peter?” He looked into Mays eyes, and it was in that moment it dawned on him that she was mad at him, but he was too tired, too distracted to think about it at that moment.

  
“I guess... I’ve been cut, and stabbed and sh-shot before, and I’ve rarely been infected.. And whenever I have been, it’s been so m-mild, it’s gone within a few hours.” It was true, he had been infected before, but its never really effect his general health.

  
May took another look at the hole, with a medial torch she found in the kit, occasionally lightly dabbing it with tissue as the bullet wound filled with blood again. She couldn’t see much gunk in there, but every bit she did see had her heart beat just a little faster.

  
She nodded, taking a deep breath, “I probably couldn’t get any of that, and it can’t be _safe_ to just fill the wound with disinfected meant for paper cuts.” She bit her lip, “Peter, you understand that leaving you like this scares me?”

  
“I know, May.”

  
“And that I am putting all of my trust into you and your _damned_ enhanced healing?”

  
Peter carefully propped himself up on his elbows, “May, you know you can trust me.”

  
“It’s not that I don’t trust,” May rummaged in the kit again and pulled out a roll of thick bandages. “What you do out there worries me. What if this happens more often, what if next time… I’m not there?”

  
They stayed in silence for a few more minutes as May wrapped the bandage around Peters torso and secured it with a few pins.

  
“Promise me something, Peter. You are so much more careful out there, you hear me? I don’t want you fucking around and getting yourself in even more trouble than-“

  
“I wasn’t fucking around out th-“

  
“Learn from me, don’t copy me,” she warned him from instinct, but then just slouched in defeat, “You know what I mean. Promise me?”

  
Peter nodded weakly, “Pinky promise?” Peter held out his finger, a childish smile playing a on his lips. May raised an eyebrow, but carried out the pinky-promise procedure with him anyway.

  
“It’s been years since you’ve asked for that.” May smiled as she packed up the first aid kit after making sure the bandage was tight enough, throwing Peter a shirt and sweatpants that were lying on the floor (she’d scold him for that later).

  
“Pinky promises- Are only for my favourite people.. "

  
“I feel _so_ special.”

  
“Thank you, May. So much. For fixing me up, not the sarcasm. I-I don’t know what I would do without you.” He winced as he slowly sat up.

  
“Are you okay?” She asked, and Peter quickly nodded, “Good. Try to get some sleep, yeah? You’ll need it for your body to start the process of reproducing the blood you lost. There is no way you’re going out again tonight.”

  
Peter didn’t complain, had knew that he could regenerate the blood in about a tenth of the time the average person could, but he still needed the rest to do so. And he was, quite frankly, exhausted.

  
He cleared up the bloodied paper towels, as May threw the once white wash towels in the bin; she wasn’t going to be able to get the blood out of them.  
He slept a good solid block of hours.

He didn’t open his eyes right away when he woke up (or rather when his alarm blared alarmingly loud, pun intended), but when he attempted it, they felt heavy and sticky. Not a pleasant thing to wake up to.

  
There was the faintest tinge of iron in the air. As he sat up, a pain blistered from his left side, his hands immediately feeling for the source. When he noticed the suit May had left on the floor last night, realisation hit him like a brick.

  
He reached for the suit quickly, and grabbed his phone from the nightstand.

  
Peter couldn’t remember a time when he felt more grateful as he opened the app Ned and himself had linked to the suit. He knew Tony watched the videos of what he did in the suit, but he didn’t want him to worry. He had done this before, countless times, but he always panicked a little in case this one time Mr. Stark had watched it before he was able to wipe the footage from the suits memory. But one day, no doubt, he was gonna get caught.

  
He flicked through a few things, before carefully cutting out he nights footage. He realised that he hadn’t sent his nightly report, but sometimes he forgot, surely Tony understood that.

  
He would have to stitch the suit up later, and throw it in the wash, but it was fine for now.  
He set his things down and proceeded to get ready for school.

  
When he walked out in to the kitchen, May was already dressed and ready for work. He made some toast and filled a glass with water, and sat down with his aunt.

  
“Morning, Peter.” May offered him one her early morning smiles, warm and welcoming.

  
“Morning May. How are you today?” He took a bite of his toast, cringing when he realised he had forgotten to add the butter. Luckily, May already had it out for her breakfast.

  
“I’m pretty good.” She finished her mouthful before she took on a more serious tone, “Are you alright?”

  
Peter considered it for a moment, “Uh, yeah, fine. I guess I haven’t really checked.”  
May nodded, and Peter made a note to himself to check it when he went to freshen up for school. They sat it silence for a few minutes.

  
“I’m sorry May.” When his aunt gave him a questioning look, he elaborated, “About last night. Usually I would just wait it out unt-“

  
“ _No_.” She shook her head, and she sounded almost disappointed, “This is where you’re wrong. You did the right thing, Peter. God knows what would have happened to you if you didn’t come home…” she trailed off, because honestly, she hadn’t actually considered what would had happened if he didn’t, “…When you did.”

  
Peter stayed silent, replying with a subtle nod. He grimaced as another sharp pain came from his side, and May eyed him suspiciously, but Peter shrugged it off.

  
When he went to the bathroom, he silently clicked the lock in the door; May didn’t like it when he locked the door, in case he ‘fell and cracked his head open in the shower’ and she couldn’t get to him, despite him being the Spider-Man.

  
He faced the mirror, taking in his complexion. If he didn’t know any better, he would have said he looked fine, normal. But he knew his own face, but the very slight crease between his eyes brows, and the distracted look in his eyes, told him something as up. He was surprised how much he paid attention to detail.

  
He splashed his face with the water and dried it roughly with the towel. He pulled his shirt over his head and stared down at the bandages wrapped around his torso. There was a large blood stain where the bullet wound was, and as Peter unwrapped the bandages, he watched it getting bigger as the bandages closer to the wound unravelled.

  
He dumped them in the sink and stared at the wound. It was surrounded in dried blood, making it almost impossible to spot the hole. He quickly grabbed some toilet paper, dampened it with water, and cleaned away the crimson. The wound was alarming tender, and he had to dab so gently that it seemed almost pointless to try and wash the blood off. But eventually, he had done enough to see it clearly.

  
The wound was healing well, and within a day it would be scabbing over, or at least he thought so. But it was red and slightly green around the outside, a clear discharge ever so slowly leaking from the knitting skin. Peter wasn’t going to lie, it concerned him, but he knew his healing would clear up any signs of an infection with 24 hours.

  
He lightly re-bandaged it with the kit under the sink, slipped his shirt back on, and freshened up for school.

  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
Tony Stark resisted the urge to role his eyes as Happy blabbed on about all the reasons why he should not invite Barton and Wilson to the party.

  
“I know, sir, that this is none of my business- well actually it _is_ -“

  
“Happy.” Tony urged the man on as he rambled.

  
“Sorry. Judging from past experience, I just think it wouldn’t be a good idea to invite those two, last time you had them together, I had 68 good men working on repairs because of all the shit they pulled-“

  
“They brought the _life_ to the party!”

  
“And not to mention, you recent unfriendly encounter.”

  
They had been walking to the CEO office at the other side of the ‘avengers’ base. Tony stopped abruptly, Happy almost walking right into him. He turned to face Happy, putting on his mini-lecture face (yes, he had one of those).

  
“Hap, really? How many times are you gonna bring that up?”

  
“Well, Stark-“

  
“Like, I’m trying to move on, to forget about those events and repair our little ‘friendships’-“  
“That may be rather difficult to do considering they are all war-criminals and outcasts now, sir.”

  
“-so I would appreciate it if you invited Barton and Wilson. And Rodgers, and Ms Maximoff and Barnes, and, uh, that small-giant red suited thing… Hell, invite the king of Wakanda!”

  
“I doubt he will come.”

  
Happy followed Tony until they almost reached the office, when Tony pivoted around to face him.

  
“I’ll invite the kid. Don’t send an invitation, he’ll freak. I’ll talk to him, just keep a note that he’s coming.”

  
It was very true, what he said; Peter would flip. But on the other hand, he just wanted to see the kid again. They had had very little communication since the incident in the lab. It was only a little over a week since he saw him, but he found himself wanting to be there for Peter. Almost… almost like his own father hadn’t been there for him.

  
Happy nodded in understanding, “I shall send the invitations immediately.” Tony pretend not to hear the muffled ‘ _impossible bastard_ ’ muffled by Happy, but he couldn’t help but smirk.

 

A little while later, Tony put up his feet, taking a break from his work, but found himself on Peters suit footage. Friday selected the thicker parts of the video, so the footage was a minute and a half rather then 4 hours.

  
He noticed, on a hologram of the suit standing out from the screen, a small hole in the torso. He rarely checked the suit itself; he’d often find whatever had happened in the video. He assumed it was nothing, but he figured he would make sure when he met up with the kid.

  
Realising that Peter didn’t even know yet that he was meeting the multi-billionaire for lunch, Tony checked the time and ran through the contacts on his phone.

  
Soon after the incident in the lab, the nurse had noticed a bruise above his collar bone on his left shoulder; a fractured collarbone unattended to. He had to wear the sling for another 10 days, as the injury was very minor, but it still reminded him of the sling he wore after the fight everyone seemed to referring to as ‘Battle of the Avengers’ or even ‘civil war’.

“Yellow, kid.” Tony put the phone between his neck shoulder and cheek, but left his hands fiddling with a pen in his lap.

“Mr-Mr. Stark? Oh, hi!”

“Is this a bad time? Just tell them you’re on the phone to Stark, they’ll piss their pants.”

“Uh, no, no I’m on my way to school now. Is there a mission? Cus’ I can skip-“

“Nice try, Kid. I’ve got a bit of info to share with you, you wanna meet up for lunch?”  
A beat, “So I skip school for lunch?”

  
“What? No- we can have it about 4:30.”

  
“Lunch at 4:30? Mr. Stark, isn’t that a little late?”

  
“Alright then, dinner.”

  
“…too early?”

  
“Uh, Dunch? Dinch?”

  
“Uh, what about a snack?”

  
“Linner it is. Pick you up at 4:00?”

  
“Yeah- that’s great. Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

  
“I haven’t _done_ anything yet, kid.” When Peter didn’t reply, Tony said his goodbye and ended the call.

  
He pondered Peter’s reaction when Tony told him he was gonna meet all of his heroes.

  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
Peter shoved his phone in his trouser pocket, rather surprised but jittery that Tony had just called him. He had been calling him so much recently, or at least for how much peter assumed Tony stark to be calling random unimportant spidermen.

 

When Peter got to school, Ned was already waiting by his locker, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

  
“Hey, Pete, did you get my message?”

  
Peter looked at him confused, and scrolled through his messages on StarkText (To give you a hint, they were very limited) and was surprised when he came across the text when he scrolled back up, at the very top, sent at 7pm last night.

  
“You didn’t reply. Dude, you know I _hate_ being left on hold.”

  
“Sorry, Ned. Must have slipped past it.” As if he hadn’t even being paying attention. He hadn’t realised how dazed he felt.

  
“Anyway, it was about how I wrecked by parents at walking dead monopoly.”

  
“Oh, that’s cool.” Peter muttered as he shoved his books in his locker, and took out the ones he needed next.

  
“Oh come on, we’ve been waiting for ages for one of us to get the game.”

  
“I know Ned. I’m excited!”

  
“Can you come over and play after school? Or-wait, are you spidermerlingin?”

  
“Spidermerl- I’m not even gonna ask. Maybe tomorrow, I’ve got plans for today. In fact, _definitely_ tomorrow?”

  
“Deal.” They did their little odd handshake, despite the few strange glances they got.

 

The lessons dragged on, and Peter was alarmed to find that he was exhausted only a 3rd period; which was P.E.

  
Of course, Peter could very easily exceed in gym class, and top his class with his physicality and stamina. But no one knows in his school, with the exception on Ned and, regrettably, Flash.

  
The bully didn’t annoy Peter as much now, but he was still an obvious pain in the ass when he did pay attention to him.

  
Peter shoved his Bag into his locker, Ned doing the same with the locker next to him. Peter took off his shirt and dressed into his kit facing the locker, like usual.

  
But he was so tired at the moment, like his body just wanted to shut down right then, right there. He was hardly aware of anyone as he tied his trainers, looking down at the floor rather than at what he was doing.

When they got into the sports hall, the students mixed into their friend groups and hung around waiting for the coach to get there.

  
“What _happened_?” Ned ran up behind Peter, and it was when he turned around to face Ned that he realised that some of the boys were giving him sideways glances.

  
“What do you mean what _happened_?” Peter lowered his voice so only Ned could hear, “Why is everyone looking at me like that?”

  
Ned threw his hands up as if it should have been obvious, “You have bandages wrapped around your stomach with blood stains! Did you expect _no_ one to notice?!”

  
Peters heart went a mile a minute as he realised he had completely forgotten about his injury.

  
“Literally everyone turned around to stare! And you say I need to be more careful.” Ned said in a harsh whisper. But when he saw the anxiousness on Peters face, his tone softened, “I don’t think anyone pieced it together- like it could be anything… you okay?”

  
“Yeah, it was just a little mishap, nothing to worry about.”

  
“No, just… you look a little out of it.” Ned was skimming over Peters appearance now, which moved said teenager to the edge of comfortable.

  
“Thanks, Ned, but I’m fine.” He gave a reassuring smile, which was pretty pathetic but worth a shot. Ned didn’t have time to reply as Coach blew his whistle and declared that today was dodge ball.

  
Of _course_ it was dodgeball; it was easy and everyone knew the rules. It wasn’t long until they broke off for Christmas break, they had finished the P.E curriculum schedule for that term.

  
The teams were picked, and the game was quickly put into motion.

  
Usually Peter would have to put on an act- make him self look weaker and a lot less capable then he actually was. But not so much today. He felt himself move slower, his reflexes were just slower.

  
He found himself holding his side, the bullet wound, multiple times, as if he felt someone was gonna hit him right there. Mj and Ned gave him a few worried glances, hell, he even saw Flash glance at him with curiousness and a slight bit of concern etched on his face. Did he really look that bad?

  
He was just dodging most of the balls game, rather then trying to get anybody else out. By the time they got to the third game Mj just let the balls hit her and walked off to pick up her book. That was a smart idea.

  
So rather then dodging balls, Peter stood in the centre, where anyone could hit him. Some kids clearly tried to avoid him, in case he caught them off guard and caught the ball. But others went right in for the kill.

  
The ball that got him out hit him square centre.

  
Right where the bullet had been.

  
Peter doubled over wheezing, tears quickly forming in the corners of his eyes.

  
It shouldn’t hurt this much, most of the healing process should have been done. He coughed harshly from the impact.

  
Some people tried to continue playing, but most just froze as Peter tried to regain his breath, arms wrapped tightly around his stomach.

  
He ended up on his knees at one point, his vision swaying whenever he tried to turn his head.

  
He could hear people now, a hand on his shoulder, Ned in his face.  
After a few more minutes, his ability to breath returned, and the black spots in his vision cleared a little.

  
How long had it been? Seconds, minutes? He could faintly hear the coach, despite the fact he was a few feet in front of him, kneeling down to face him.

  
“You alright, Parker? So you wanna go to the nurse?”  
Peter shook his head slightly, struggling to the words out of his oddly parched throat, “I-I’m good… coach…”

  
He started to help Peter to his feet, and guide him to the sidelines. He tried to force Peter to sit down.

  
“Hey, c-coach. I think I’m okay to-“

  
“Kid, sit your ass down. Or I’ll shove the nurse up there.” Peter took that as his cue to sit, and to be honest, it felt amazing.

  
The game continued, everyone seemed a little more on edge now. Peter was still clutching his left side. What if it had been infected? It should be fine by tomorrow, Peter assured himself.

  
When the games finished and all the students headed for the changing rooms, Ned and Mj ran up to Peter.

  
“What was that, Parker?” Mj asked him in her usually bored tone.

  
“Uh, the ball hit me. Harder then I expected.” He stood up wearily just as coach joined them.

  
“Yo, kid, you good?” Peter nodded and Coach Wilson ran back off again. They walked to the changing rooms.

  
“But, they’re not hard balls.” Peter didn’t reply to Mj’s comment and she rolled her eyes, “Just don’t pull dumbass stunts like that…Please.” And with that she turned heading for the girls changing room.

  
“So what is it?”

  
“The injury? Bullet wound.”

  
Ned did this weird series of over dramatic gestures, “Bullet wound?! That’s so badass- sorry, I mean really bad. Yesterday?”

  
“Last night, yeah.” The boys entered the changing room, and Peter tried to ignore all the odd glances he got. This time around he would change his shirt in a toilet stall, even though most people had already seen it.

  
Ned lowered his voice, “How long until it heals?”

  
“Ned, it should have already healed. I don’t know anymore.”

  
Ned didn’t push any more as they changed.

  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
Last lesson- finally. _Math_. Math was okay, naturally Peter was pretty good at it, being on the decathlon team and all.

  
But he wasn’t focusing. He’d sat towards the front of the room because he’d gotten in late and took the only seat available, Ned at the very back.

 

The teacher must have seen Peter distracted, and caught him off guard.

  
“Mr. Parker. I know it’s last lesson, but that’s no excuse for you to slack off.”  
Peter looked up in surprise,

“Sorry, Miss.”

“Answer the equation on the board.”

  
Peter scanned his eyes over the writing on the whiteboard, but his brain simply comprehended it as a lot of squiggly blue lines. He quickly typed it into his calculator.

  
“Uh, one thousand and fifty two point eight nine three two two five?”

  
Everyone gave him a strange glance, as if the answer should have been obvious and that was not it.

  
“No, Peter. I’m asking you to correct the mistake and give me the answer in standard form.”

“Oh.” Come on, Pete. You know how to do this.

  
After a minute the pressuring eyes decreased and Peter was able to focus a little more. Why had he been so distracted in the first place?

  
“1.2365 times ten to the power of 4.”

  
“Yes, thank you, Peter.”

  
The teen rubbed his hands over his face tiredly. A few minutes later he felt a prick in the back of his head and turned to find a paper aeroplane fluttering to the floor. Thank god Miss had left the class and let them do text work, or it would have been detention.

  
The side of the plane had scruffy whiteboard marker writing, ‘Leeds & Co. airlines’ Peter opened the paper up, knowing that there was some sort of message inside from Ned.

  
‘ _You don’t look so good- N’_

  
Peter turned to look at Ned, who was impatiently waiting for his answer. A few of the other kids in the class had seen, but most of them were talking loudly anyway and went back to their conversations.

  
Peter realised he hadn’t even opened his pencil case for the text-work yet and quickly snatched a pencil from the desk next to him.

  
‘ _How can you even see- I’m facing front of the class. Great aim btw – P’_

  
He threw it back, his aim half as good as Ned’s, which was odd. Ned wrote back quickly.

  
_‘I can see enough to tell that you look like brewing shit. Nurse? And thnx, urs sucks tho - N’_

  
Peter smirked at the message and wrote his back again,

  
‘ _Thanks. No, and thanks again, I’m okay dude_.’

  
He threw it back, completely missing Ned, but he just got up and snatched it off the ground. When Peter got ready to catch it again, it never reached his grasp. But it had reached Flash.

  
“Well, would you look at that.” Flash got the rest of the classes attention as he fanned himself with the paper aeroplane. “It’s like the downgraded version starktext.”

  
The class snickered and Flash opened the paper, but neither Peter and Ned attempted to make a move.

  
Flash raised an eyebrow and looked over at Peter, and then at Ned, “Seriously, Leeds? He always looks like shit with _that_ haircut.”

As the rest of the class snickered again, all eyes on Flash, Peter knew he needed to move to prevent further humiliation of Ned and himself.

  
He felt his wrists, reassuring himself that the web shooters were there. He prayed that no one was watching him as he aimed for the leg of Flash’s chair, and fired, in the most discreet way possible.

  
But people only noticed something was up when Flash squeaked, as Peter yanked hard at his chair.

  
It fell backwards at an awkward angle, Flash bracing his elbows on the desk behind him to stop himself from falling. The paper fluttered to the ground pointlessly, and Ned hurried to pick it up, giving Peter a thumbs up in the process.

  
Peter quickly yanked the chair again so it fell back completely, and Flash helped like a little girl as he went crashing to the floor, though not harshly. The class sat in shock for a moment, some giggling at his reaction, others filming on their phones as Flash looked as if he was being strangled. _Drama-queen._

  
Peter quickly retracted the webbing and sat forward just in time for the teacher walked in.  
“What on earth are doing, Eugene?”

  
Flash scurried to his feet and clumsily putting his seat upright. “Sorry…”

  
She smiled coldly and gave him a detention. Flash looked directly at Peter; Flash knew it was him. But no one else would, because they didn’t know who Peter was. But Flash, very easily, knew exactly what Peter had done. He wanted to slap Penis upside the head. But really, he was trying to avoid smiling at the irony of it, or yelling ‘ _Holy shit I’m best enemies with the Spider-fucking-man…’_

  
And he knew he probably deserved it. Peter shrugged as if he had no clue, but his eyes said he knew he had been caught red handed.

  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
“Hey, kid, I’m here.” Tony waved his hand in front of Peter, who was staring at the table, attempting the contain the pain that was now protruding from his wound.

  
“Sorry, Mr. Stark. You were saying?”

  
“I wasn’t saying anything, Pete. You’ve just been spacing out a lot. And you look a little… white.” Tony popped his crisp packet and crossed his legs on the park bench they were sitting on. Peter raised an eyebrow at his comment.

  
“You know what I mean. Pale.”

  
“Oh. I’m fine, just tired.” Peter shrugged, but he felt in his gut that it was more then that; he couldn’t pinpoint it.

  
“Oh, _really_?” Tony took off his sunglasses and proceeded to stuff his face with crisps before asking, “I suppose you don’t want to come to my very _special_ party, then.”

  
There was a pause, “I’m going to a Party- at the compound?”

  
Tony shook his head, “Of course not, you’re too tired for that. Auntie May will tuck you into bed early, nice and snuggle.”

  
“Oh, my god Mr. Stark, I’m fine- Great! Please please please let me go.” Peter begged impatiently, and Tony grinned at how much he felt like he was taking responsibility for the kid.

 _  
Like father and son_.

  
“Mr. Stark?”

Tony realised he had zoned out, and faced him again. “Saturday, 2 days, 8 o’clock. Be there on time, and I’ll introduce you to America himself.” If he came, that was.  
Peters face lit up at the thought.

“Holy crap- thank you _so_ much, Mr. Stark!”

  
“You say that a lot, kid.” He let Peter cool down for a minute. “So, suit all good? Patrol? Tell me, kid.”

  
“Oh, uh, t’s all good, I guess. I’ve been making sure to send you all my-“

  
“Your nightly reports? Not last night.”

  
The memories from the night before flashed over Peter like a tidal wave. It felt like whenever he got a cavity, but they had only just seen the dentist a month before, so he wasn’t sure whether to just brush his teeth well and wait it out, or take action. Only this was on a much bigger scale.

  
“Right. It got late, I just forgot, I think. Sorry.”

  
“It’s fine, kid.” But you scare me sometimes, which Tony avoided saying out loud.  
He noticed Peter had a hand wrapped carefully around left side, “What’ya doing?” He nodded his head at Peters hand, which he retracted almost immediately.

  
“Nothing. Just… habit?”

  
“Did you get hit?”

  
“No! I mean… yes, but it was a long time ago.” Although 19 hours isn’t really a long time. Mr. Stark doesn’t know that.

  
“Does it hurt?” Tony pried; he was surprised how much emotion he felt, how much he knew he cared. And he could tell something was up.

  
“Well, not anymore.”

  
But he also knew Peter wouldn’t give in that easily.

  
Tony sighed and consider his words, “If you’re not feeling up to it, Pete, you don’t have to come.”

  
“Please, no, Mr. Stark I’m fine.”

  
“Just, don’t push yourself if it’s too much, alright?”

  
“I won’t.”

  
“You’re not lying to me? You’re not allowed to lie to me, I can sue you for that.”

  
“No you can’t, Mr. Stark.”

  
“I like to think I can.” Tony flipped his glasses back on in attempt to up his cool, it was already impossible to do so though; he was already too cool.

  
“And besides, it’s only a party?”

  
“Uh, no. It’s a _Stark_ party, that’s a very different kind of Party!”

  
“How?”

  
“Wait and see, kid.”

  
“Um… Mr. Stark, are they gonna know about me identity?”

  
“Well, we could make up a name for you. Like Gregory Scansebakken? Or Angus Chandelier? Perhaps-“

  
“No, Spider-Man…Do we tell them?”

  
Tony considered it for a moment, “Only if you want. The avengers might appreciate an explanation.”

  
“Um, okay?”

  
“Don’t tell them at the party, I have a feeling a lot of them will figure it out anyway. Let’s wait for a time where the situation is more… sophisticated, alright? If that’s cool with you, kid.” He gave him a thumbs up. Peter nodded in response and appreciation.

  
Peter checked his phone like he had done twenty seconds, “May will want me home soon… So you’re okay with inviting me to your party? What if I embarrasses you? Will you hate me? Omg I don’t kno-"

  
“Kid, chill. It’s gonna be great. I thought if Happy sent you the invitation you would freak, right?”

  
Peter nodded rapidly in reply, “Oh, yeah, because I’m not freaking out now, Mr. Stark, don’t worry. Wow.”

  
He was very obviously freaking out.

  
Tony finished his packet of crisps and looked around them. They sat on an park bench, in the middle of, strangely enough, a park. It’s was more of a big path of grass with pathways and bushes and trees running through it. But their were families with their pets and little kids running around, picnics, all sorts. It was rare for Tony to just walk into public this openly, and it wasn’t like he didn’t see the few phones and cameras peaking from behind bushes and other people.

  
But it didn’t matter if they saw him with Peter, the billionaire had made sure the media knew he had started ‘hiring interns’. He turned to face Peter who was staring down at his hands, the flapjack in his lap untouched.

  
“So what do I wear to the party? And what time do I go h- wait how will I get home? Why d-“

  
“Something casual, not what you usually wear. Don’t need to ruin your first proper impression on the avengers, eh? And don’t worry, I’ve talked to your aunt, she can come with.”

  
“Ok, yeah, great… thank you so so much Mr. Stark, but I really have to run-“

  
“You run along, kid. Auntie May’s waiting for you.”

  
Peter bounced off- almost _skipped_ , which Tony may have found slightly disconcerting if he didn’t find it so fun to see Spider-Man preform a Pleaye (did I get that right omg?) in the middle of the street.

  
He thought it would be really good for Peter to meet the rest of the avengers, maybe he would bring them back together? He wouldn’t tell him, but Tony was almost counting on Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!  
> Next chapter will be out very soon, part two to this one!  
> Until then, please tell me what you thought and I will c u guys soon,  
> Lannie xxx


	6. The Infection Inaction Pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the second half of The Infection Inaction!  
> I hope you enjoy! Again, please EXCUSE any bad grammar, because although I put a lot of effort into these, capitalisation and apostrophises in the appropriate places are, I know, basic, but I ain't bothered to correct them :D
> 
> WARNING! Just like the last chapter, please be aware that there are descriptive and possibly disturbing scenes, so be wary!
> 
> Enjoy!

5\. Pt. 2

  
Saturday was supposed to be fantastic. Possibly one of the best days of Peter’s life; he was going to meet he all of the avengers, properly.

  
But no one ever told him a great day had to have a great start.

  
And he wasn’t getting one of those.

  
He woke up feeling groggy, and to put it simply, like _fucking shit_.

  
His first thought was, ‘ _fuck, no, Spider-Man doesn’t get sick_.’ But he realised that this was, unfortunately, simply how he had been feeling the past two days, just worse. Ever since that bullet.

  
A wave of nausea washed over him when he realised what was happening. He got up from his bed, shaking, immediately missing the warmth that he left behind as he threw the covers off of himself weakly, and ran to the bathroom.

  
He hadn’t taken off the bandages in a few days, preferring the support when he had patrolled the past two nights, but he was regretting not giving his body time to heal now.   
The first thing he did when he took the bandages off was check what was on them. Dried blood, still faint traces of wet blood… and pus.

_That_ was a first.

  
When he checked the wound in the mirror, the sight was appalling. He wondered if his sped up healing also meant injuries could worsen quicker to.

  
The hole was still open, blood and dried blood making the hole look ten times bigger. It was swelling rather profoundly, the skin around the left side of his stomach red raw. Pus leaked from the wound, the outside of it green and purple and sick. Disturbingly. It was no wonder he felt awful. He’d fucked up and let the bullet wound get infected.

Badly infected.

  
His mind drifted to his conversation with his aunt three nights ago about the wound getting infected, and how he had assured her it would be fine, and his body could handle it.

  
Well clearly not.  
She couldn’t find out about this.

  
At least not yet, maybe after the party? Because from looking at it, he knew he needed help now.

  
He studied his reflection. He was pale and sweating easily, which probably meant his temperature was already elevated. His eyes tired and drooping, his lip quivering ever so slightly.

  
He tightly tied new bandages around his waist, disposing the old ones carefully, and slipped his shirt on.

  
He didn’t think he would be able to get back to sleep, and it was 7:30, so he grabbed his phone and sprawled himself over the couch. He went straight to his chat with Ned, trying to take his mind of the infection.

  
‘Party at Mr. Starks place.’

  
He got the text back within minutes.

  
‘DUFE OMG TaHT FRACKING AWRSOME’

  
Peter stared at the reply for a minute, slightly confused at what it was supposed to say.

  
‘Sorry. Woke me up, that was suppose 2 say DUDE OMG THAT IS F*CKING AWESOME.’

  
‘Ikr. Sorry, didn’t mean to wake u’

  
‘Wtf no, totally worth it. When’s the party?’

  
‘Tonight.’

  
‘I wish I could come. Omg can I come?’

  
‘Idk. A little late.’

  
‘Yeah, nvm. Send pics.’

  
‘Obvs’

  
‘AHH so hyped and I’m not even going.’

  
‘Next time, I’ll get Mr. Stark 2 invite u’

  
‘Coooooool.’

  
“Peter?” Peter looked up to find his aunt standing in the hallway, a little tired and her hair sticking up in a cow lick.

  
‘Gtg, txt u l8r’

  
‘C u’

  
“Hey, morning May.” He sat up and smiled at his aunt, and she smiled back.

  
“You’re not usually up this early. Everything alright?”

  
“Yeah, yeah of course! Just…peachy.”

  
He got up and followed May as she walked to the kitchen and started to prepare a mug of tea,

  
“No thanks.”

  
“Let me guess, hot chocolate?”

  
“You’re a star, May.”

He gave her a kiss on the cheek, and went to empty the dishwasher, which they had bought a few days ago. Their old one broke down a few weeks ago, and it was a relief that they no longer had to wash all the dishes by hand; what could he say, he was as lazy as the next person.

  
He often helped May out around the apartment, they worked as a team more since it was only the two of them. May got their drinks ready, and then walked over to the coffee table and switched on the TV. Peter followed her soon after.

  
He took a sip of his drink, which usually he would find to be far too hot, but he felt alarming cold, so he welcomed it.

  
“Thanks May, fantastic as always. Did you sleep well?”

  
“Sweetie, of course it’s fantastic, _I_ made it.” She winked at him playfully, and Peter scoffed with a quiet ‘modest much.’ He could keep up this act, sure. He just had to make sure he didn’t let himself drift off, he didn’t want her to worry. “And, Eh, weird dream… do you keep secrets from me?”

  
That caught Peter off guard, “Uh, no?”

  
“I guess it was rather a stupid question. I mean, you know, Spider-Man and all. I know you do… But I just had a really strange dream. That you never told me everything, and one day, you lied to me about where you were. And when I got there, it was too late.”

  
She looked at her nephew, making eye contact. Peter wasn’t sure what to say.  
“It worries me. But.. I don’t know, it was weird.”

  
“May, I’m as careful as I can be out there. Please don’t worry about me. I mean, look at my suit, it’s practically bullet proof!”

  
May raised an eyebrow, as if to say, ‘ _you’re really going to use that example?_ ’

  
“Speaking of bullets and being careful, is the gunshot almost fully healed?”

  
“Uh, yeah? Like I told you… good as new.” Lies.

  
“Good. Can I see it?”

  
“Uh… I just put on a new bandage?” That was true.

  
“ _Bandage_? You _just_ said it was fine?”

  
“Well, it’s not fully healed, but, uh, precautions, you know?”

  
May nodded hesitantly. “Okay, I want to see it later though.”

  
“O-okay then. That’s fine.”

  
May skipped some channels until they found nothing decent and they just stuck to the news, both her and Peter finishing off their drinks.

  
Peter let his head rest on the back of the sofa, and closed his eyes. He felt himself breathing slightly abnormally, and accidentally let a shuddered breath slip. He quickly brought his almost empty mug to his lips to cover it as May gave a very subtle glance his way. He lent his head back again and enjoyed the rest, listening to the faint mumbling from the news.

A dull ache came from his wound, but it didn’t fade like it usually did. He felt his eyebrows crease in discomfort, but he couldn’t do anything that would make May suspicious. He wasn’t the fond of closing his eyes in front of her, but he needed the rest.

  
He must have dozed off, because the next time he opened his eyes it was because of the beep next to him, and jumped in shock and looked for the source.

  
His aunt stood behind the couch, and she pulled a device out of his ear as it continued to beep. Peter felt her hand on his forehead, and although he enjoyed the coolness, he forced himself to pull away.

  
“Uh, woah, May. What are you doing?”

  
“You feeling alright? You’ve got a low grade fever.”

  
_Why was she checking that?_ “Why? May, I’m okay.”

  
“You’re really pale, Peter, and you look tired. You just woke up. Did you spend long patrolling last night?”

“I’m fine, May. I had enough sleep.” He actually didn't go out at all. He got up from the sofa, trying to hide how unsteady he felt on his feet. “It’s probably just… nerves.”

  
“For tonight? I understand, but if you’re lying to me, Peter, I-“

  
“Mr. Stark said I might meet Captain America, who, I punched a few times. I’m nervous, believe me.” Peter saw that she was going to question how simple nerves could actually lead to a low grade fever, but she didn’t say anything.

  
She saw he was trying to change the subject, so she let it slide for now.

  
“Just be safe.”

  
“I thought you were coming too?”

  
“I am, but who knows what you’ll do when I’m not looking. I wont be able to watch you the whole time. On the topic, it was very nice for Tony to invite you, me even.”

  
“It’s gonna be so cool!” Peter took his own empty mug and Mays to the sink.

  
“But…don’t wear anything too… childish? Science-y?”

  
“Oh, my god May, Tony already gave me that lecture. _Please_ , no.”

  
May laughed warmly at the irony, she was constantly trying to buy Peter new clothes that didn’t have a cheesy science pun somewhere on it.

  
She walked back to her room to get dressed out of her bed clothes and into casual wear. Peter had a similar intention, but he had to do something before that.

  
He knew where May kept the medicine cabinet, but handling the contents itself was like looking for a needle in a haystack. She had a lot in there, most of it being much more useful before Peter was bitten.

  
He rummaged through the large box, trying to make as little noise as possible. He eventually found what he wanted, but there was only one left in the packet. He would usually have to take between 6 to 8 paracetamol, because his metabolism burnt through them so quickly, but there was only the one tablet he could find. He slipped it underneath his web-shooters to take just before he arrived at the party later.

  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

“…Good evening, Mr. Rodgers.”

  
Tony greeted Captain America as he stood in front of him, in the ‘reception’ like area. There were a lot of guests, most of whom Tony didn’t know the names of, wandering around them, and some cast some confused glances at the two.

  
Steve was starting to grow a beard, and was growing out his hair, but was still recognisable. But this party was more of a break for professionals involved with the avengers, or those related to S.H.E.I.L.D. They knew how to keep secrets, and where made aware of Rodgers presence prior to the Party- more like fun gathering.

  
It wasn’t formal, people were laughing and drinking. All the avengers invited had turned up. Bruce was hitting it off with Romanoff again, Sam and Clint fucking everything up, the usual.

  
But something told Tony Steve was mainly present to start settling differences.

  
“Stark, it’s been a while.” Steve nodded politely, but other then that the two stood in silence.

  
“ **Sir, Mrs. And Mr. Parker have arrived.”**

  
Tony sighed in more relief than anything else, as he smiled at Steve and strode past him to great his guests. They were, like, an hour late, everyone else was already there. But, hey, there’s the Parkers for you.

  
The two of the stood just in front of the entrance. May looked stunning. She wore a blue dress that complimented her figure, but nothing too over the top. Her earnings were silver and her hair tied up in a loose bun. She had applied little makeup, a small, polite smile on her lips.

  
Tony had expected Peter to be all jittery and hyper, struggling to keep his feet on the ground. But the teenager just stood in place, almost unsure on his own two feet. He was dressed in simple white button down, and a pair of black trousers, easily blending in with everyone else, despite his age. But he didn’t look…like Peter. Or at least the Peter Tony knew. The one who’s eyes lit up every time he saw a chocolate fountain.

  
“Ah, so nice for you to finally join us.”

  
May resisted the urge to roll her eyes, “Well, there’s something normal –“ that was not the right word to describe Peter, she realised- “- _Other_ people have to sit through sometimes called traffic. Not everyone has their own flying suit of armour. With all do respect.”

  
Tony smirked, taking the comment lightly. He turned to Peter, “So, kid, you didn’t go out in the suit yesterday?” Peter didn’t respond, “Don’t tell me. You either cut the suit in half or you cut out the communication system? Which one? Actually, I don’t wanna know yet.”

  
Peter shook his head sheepishly, “I, uh, I actually fell asleep.”

  
“If I had known, I wouldn’t have waited until 7:30 for you to _emerge_ from your room to get dinner on the go.” Mays voice had not trace of annoyance, just gave off the ‘typical-of-you’ vibe. Though, Peter never missed a patrol if he could help it, so the news was a little strange.

  
Peters eyes drifted to something behind Tony, and those someones were Captain America and Falcon.

  
Tony stepped aside so both parties could see each other, “Oh, of course. Peter, Mrs Parker, meet Steve Rodgers and that guy from your local Starbucks.”

  
“Don’t amuse yourself, Stark.” Sam commented bluntly.

  
“Rodgers, Wilson, meet May Parker, and her nephew, Peter Parker.” May nodded whiles Peter mumbled a quite hey, his eyes wide. He stumbled foward a little.

  
“Wow. This is incredible, I-I’m a huge fan. Uh-“ Peter subconsciously dusted down his button down shirt, which was already clean, “-uh, I’m Peter. Parker.” The kid already sweating- or was he already doing so before hand?

  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m May Parker.” She didn’t offer a hand to shake in greeting, just a blunt smile.

  
“The same to you both.” Steve replied in his good boy voice, whiles the fact that Sam nodded in their direction was the only proof that he had acknowledge the parkers were there.

  
Tony caught Steve eyeing Peter, confused, “Peter is an intern…” Steve’s expression said something else. He must have overheard Tony talking to Peter previously; It only took a mention of ‘the suit’ for one to piece it together. Tony got the feeling they’d have that conversation later.

  
“Well this looks like a shit fest of a couple of dull, grey _pigeons_.” Natasha entered with her usual level of sarcasm, Barton trailing behind her. He looked as if he was just whipped into place by his college. Thank the lords for Natasha’s witting comments, capable of slicing through awkward silence like a hot knife and butter.

  
It was forty five minutes into the Party by the time Peter had met all the Avengers. He was still suffering the aftershock of meeting all of his heroes and superiors. The jitteriness had overwhelmed him for short periods of time, but he could tell the aspirin had already worn off. He’d taken it half an hour ago, but it was meant to last for five hours.

  
Now he was just trying his best to hide how weak he felt in front of everyone.

  
He had checked the infection just before they left for the party, there now being enough pus for it to dribble down. The sight was enough to make anyone’s stomach turn, even more so because it was _his_ stomach that had been hit in the first place.

  
At the beginning of the party, he caught May talking to Tony from across the room just before he was about to confront Wanda Maximoff. They had forgotten about Peters long range hearing.

_  
“Do me a favour, Stark.”_

  
_“Yes, May? Anything for a chick like you.”_

_  
“Keep an eye on Peter for me. I think there’s something he’s not telling me about the hit he took the other day.”_

_  
“Hit? What hit? Is he alright?”_

_  
“I don’t know. It happened in the suit, I thought you watched the footage?”_

_  
“I-I do… it wasn’t in there. What happened?”_

_  
“He was shot. I’ll explain later. But he wasn’t great this morning, and he’s pushing himself. I need to teach this kid some common sense. Until then, just…watch him_.”

  
Tony had looked for Peter, and caught him looking directly at the pair, but Peter turned his head away as quickly as possible, but Tony had seen him.

  
“Hello, Peter.” Peter stopped himself from jumping from the sudden mention of his name and spun a round to meet the voice. Wanda Maximoff stood behind him, in a plain grey shirt and black leggings, but looking graceful none the less.

  
“You wanted to meet me?” She can read minds. Right. Don’t screw up.

  
“Ah, you are nervous. I must be honest, I never expected Spider-Man to get nervous. Also not to be so… young.”

  
Peter quickly recovered from the shock of hearing that, and nodded, of course she knew, “Yes… um, it’s an honour to meet you. You’re really… scary.” Peter felt his face go red.

  
But the scarlet witch just laughed, an alarmingly calming sound, “I’ve heard that many times before.”

  
Peters mind drifted to when the government locked her up. Tony had explained it to him briefly, but even the brief was intimidating. He said she was locked in chains, all connected to the metal collar around her neck, and under constant supervision. Or torture.

  
“Yes, it was rather dreadful. They plan to take me back.”

  
“I am so sorry, I shouldn’t be-“ Wanda raised her hand to silence him.

  
“Everyone asks, everyone knows. Soon, Peter, you’ll need to be involved. May as well give you a head start on all the shit you’ll face with us.”

  
Peter was a little lost for words, “Uh- y-you can see that?”

  
Wanda simply smiled, as if amused by his lack of knowledge, “It’s a pleasure meeting you, Peter Parker. We will see each other again very soon.”

  
She started the walk away. Peter couldn’t help feel pity for her, but he knew how powerful she was. Tony must have done a lot to get the government to release Wanda, even if it was only just for a few hours.

  
He saw Wanda turn around to face him one last time, “I don’t plan on letting them take me back.”

  
Peter nodded, as if he actually understood how she could possibly get away. But the Avengers are his heroes, they could do anything.

 

  
Now Peter was listening to ant-man talk about his new ant suit.

  
“Oh, _man_ , its like, a completely different but such a similar shade of red as the last suit, it’s insane.” Scott put his beer aside and used his hands to help him explain the suit dynamics. But it just looked like he was trying the communicate using sign language for the first time. With his eyes closed. “And, unlike those suits of metal stark has in his back shed, there’s one button, does _everything_.”

  
“Yeah, didn’t you go, like, really big?”

  
“Oh, yeah. Uh, you’re with Stark, right? So-“ he quickly put hand to his mouth, “Am I supposed to be talking to you? I’ve heard of some of those crazy protocol tabs he keeps on his interns. Or are you the only one? Maybe I shouldn’t-“

  
“It’s fine, I’m a huge fan anyway.”

  
Scott clapped his hands, “I _knew_ I had one of those!”

  
Despite the sick feeling slowly crawling up his throat, Peter was having a good time. The avengers, he thought, were really nice. Well, he was pretty sure he had pissed off Clint, but that was only because he beat him a limbo, right? In fact, he beat everyone at limbo.

  
When he first heard they were playing limbo, he immediately thought of bouncy castle parties and pass the parcel. But no, they were playing limbo using an iron man leg and you had to balance a shot glass on your chin. Peter’s was water though. But with his agility, he was pretty confident.

  
“That was some fine _limboing_ \- and I don’t care if that’s a word or not- right there, kid. Where did you say you were from?” Sam had clasped him on the back, more so to tease Clint for losing to a 15 year old.

  
Peter laughed lightly, “Queens.”

  
“You sound oddly familiar.” Peters smile dropped immediately.

  
“I-I do?” He tried to avoid the embarrassing puberty squeak.

  
“Yeah…” Sam sounded warier this time. “Well, good job, Peter. If that had been alcohol in your glass, you’d be drunk.” Sam’s tone was lower, and Peter could almost hear the cogs in his brain working.

 

  
“Mr. Rhodes?” Peter had later gone to confront the war machine, probably one of his biggest idols.

  
Rhodes turned to face Peter, “Hey, you’re Starks intern. Call me Rhodey.” He held out his hand for Peter to shake, and the boy took it enthusiastically.

_  
Rhodey? Didn’t only a few people get to call him that?_

  
“All you’ve done for the United States is incredible.”

  
“Thank you.. uh?”

  
“Peter. Peter P-Parker.”

  
“Thank you, Peter. And any intern of Tony’s is an intern… of- uh, mine?” Rhodey considered his words for a moment, “Well that clearly didn’t come out right, don’t judge, kid.”

  
Peter nodded, appreciating the fact that he didn’t just become a double ‘intern’.

  
“Hey, Mr- uh, Rhodey?”

  
“Yes, Peter.”

  
“Can I get a picture with you?”

  
“Yes, I do supposed you’d want one.” It was obvious that Rhodey felt a boost in his pride and straightened out his jacket before posing beside Peter.

  
Peter held out his (still cracked) StarkPhone and took a few selfies and immediately sent them to Ned.

 

Now he sat watching everyone have a good time, but the exhaustion had taken a toll on him. The pain was too distracting now. He couldn’t focus, he couldn’t even pick up his glass of still water without it shaking violent in his grasp.

  
He jumped when Tony came up behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder lightly. Peter squeaked, loud enough to get a few stares, and Tony covered his mouth the prevent him from howling with laughter at the humiliation on Peters face.

  
“Kid, your gonna be the  _death_  of me.” Stark snorted. His attention turned back to Peters appearance and how he was acting, looking for any signs of how the ‘hit’ Peter took was affecting him.

  
He had had F.R.I.D.A.Y scan the footage for anything like May had described, so either there was a glitch in the suit or the suit had been tampered with. Because from what Tony could tell, Peter had been hit.

  
The hand Peter held to his side the other day made sense now, and Tony got he feeling that the injury had happened a lot more recently than Peter let on. A thin layer of sweaty covered Peters forehead, and he was pale and shaking slightly.

  
“I saw you getting on with man ant, and you whooped Clint’s ass at limbo. You seem to be enjoying it yourself!”

  
Peter smiled and nodded, “Y-yeah…Sorry, I guess I’m still just really n-nervous.”

  
“I can see that. Oh and Natasha knows.”

  
“ _What_? What do you mean?"

as if on cue, Natasha walked up behind Tony, rocking her tight, Neon pink dress.

  
“A bet, don’t ask.” She mumbled as if it had been rehearsed. “Perfect that you’re both here.”  
She held Peters gaze for a mere second, “How’d this happen, Stark?”

  
Of course Natasha would find out, knowing we apart of her job.

  
Tony reluctantly laid down the basic information, because he could tell Peter wasn’t in a place to explain it himself at that moment. Natasha nodded, “You’re good, kid. I was impressed.”

  
Peter had a feeling she wasn’t talking about limbo. He smiled with appreciation.  
“To be honest, I thought you would be a lot more overdramatic, perhaps hyper. From last time i saw you, you seemed like a very energetic person.” So it wasn’t just Tony and May, Natasha had noticed something was up too. And she hardly knew the kid.

  
“He’s just nervous.”

  
Peter watched the conversation happen between the two, like one mother telling the other why her kid can’t go on a play date.

  
Bruce walked over, blushing slightly when he saw Natasha, despite the fact he had been flirting with her five minutes ago.

  
“Ah, Mr. Parker, it’s good to see you again.” He shook Peters hand, but he could tell Bruce was warier around him then he had been the first time they met.

  
“You too, Doctor Banner.” Peter shakily slid off his stool, and looked around a little for May. She was talking to Captain America across the main room. Tony followed his gaze.

  
“May seems to be having a good time.”

  
Natasha and Bruce started having their own conversation, moving slowly over to the bar.  
“Yes, that’s good. I thought s-she would be bored out of her wits.”

  
Tony raised and eyebrow, and Peter fumbled over his words, “Not that this is a bad party- at all! It’s great, becaus, you know…it’s a Stark party!”

  
“That, my fellow spider, is correct. Stark parties never cease to amaze…” Tony watched Peter for a moment, how he shivered slightly every once in a while, how his brow seemed to crease as if he’d been hit by a very subtle pain. He looked like he could pass out. “I didn’t want to drag you over, Pete. I just thought you would really want to meet the avengers. I know how much they mean to you.”

  
“Mr. Stark, you didn’t drag me over. You invited me and I said yes, because I really wanted to. Why would you th-think that?”

  
Tony didn’t miss the shake in Peters voice, “Okay, seriously? You look and sound like death on feet- you know what I mean.”

  
Peter knew he should have been doing a better job at concealing it, but exhaustion was starting to take over.

  
Maybe he should have had the infection looked at?

  
Yeah, that was probably a good idea. But not here, he, very obviously, couldn’t do it here and now.

  
“I’m okay, Mr. Stark,” more lies, “I’m gonna go see how my aunt is holding up.”  
Tony watched Peter wave in between people to get to his aunt, and considered following him in case he fell, because honestly, he looked as if he were about to.

“Hey, Peter.” May smiled when he walked over to her, Steve taking a sip of his water.

  
“Hello.” Steve greeted politely, “I haven’t had the chance to talk to you much, Peter. How are you?”

  
“I’m okay, thanks.” Peter felt the words come easy, now that he felt his aunt next to him. “You?”

  
“I’m alright. I’ve heard quite a bit about you.’ He spoke with a tone Peter couldn’t quite distinguish.

  
“Okay, um… like what?” He couldn’t help himself, he had to ask.

  
“I’ve heard you’re a genius. So just remind me to never go against you, you’d probably outwit me.” Steve smiled, but just as he had said, Peter was smart. He knew there was a double meaning to that.

  
“Ah, thank you, I guess…”

  
Peter didn’t trail off because he had nothing else to say, but because the edges of his vision started to blur.

  
Dark spots quickly twisted his vision. He could see peoples silhouettes, but they moved slow, and sluggish.

  
The sick feeling crawled back up his throat, and spikes of pain erupted from his wound. His mind become fuzzy. He could hear music- a party. Why was he at a party? Mr. Stark. That was right.

  
Mays figure become a little clearer, she was looking into his eyes. Her voice was fuzzy, but he could make out enough to tell that she was asking if he was okay.

  
Which was no, he was not. He needed to sit down, but out of all of the chairs and sofas and even rugs in the room, the spot he stood may have been the furthest spot from them all.  
Steve now had a hand on his shoulder, lightly shaking him. Or was that just Peter? He couldn’t tell anymore.

  
Mays figure completely blurred and everything went dark.

 

Tony had been talking to Pepper when it happened. He had been about to go and get Pepper and himself a drink from the bar, but his eyes quickly settled on Peter, May and Steve first.

  
Rodgers seemed to be being kind as always, but everything slowed down as Peter stumbled backwards, blinking his eyes. The next minute, he collapsed on the floor.  
Tony had never moved so fast in his life.

  
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
The first thing Peter acknowledged when he came to was the pounding in his head. The second was the warm wash cloth _on_ his head.

  
What had _happened_? He decided he wouldn’t do the cheesy thing and ask as soon as he woke up, instead he would wait until he fully came to his senses and he could remember.

  
He resisted the urge to rub his hand over is eyes and instead blinked them open with an alarming amount of effort required.

  
Above him was…the ceiling, which seemed rather logical. The lights were bright, too bright, and Peter squinted and turned his head away, causing the pounding to worsen.

  
“Well, would you look at that.” Tony’s voice filtered through Peter’s ears, but to the teenager, he was still fuzzy and unclear.

  
“Is he awake?” Another voice, Mays, came from a little way away. It made him uncomfortable how anxious she sounded.

  
“Yeah.” From what Peter could see, Tony was sitting in front of wherever Peter was lying down. “Hey, kid, how’re you feeling?”

  
Mr. Stark asking about someone else’s wellbeing? Peter must have been dead.

  
“Like any ounce of dignity I had left has just been sucked _straight_ out.” Peter noted how hoarse and weak his voice was. His throat was dry. Still, it earned a light chuckle from the older man.

  
Tony lowered his voice a little, “What happened back there, Peter?”

  
He slowly started remembering. He remembered the moment he realised he was about to pass out, the moment the infection overwhelmed him.

  
The warm wash cloth on his forehead was replaced by a hand.

  
“His fever has gone down a little.” Mays voice came from above him, and Peter opened his eyes enough to tell were he was.

  
He was laying on one of Tony’s fancy sofas, in god knows which room. Possible a living room? Kitchen? He knew there were several kitchens with not only sofas, but beds and bookcases and other odd things for a kitchen.

  
Tony was knelt in front of him, and heard may come around from behind of the sofa. He began to sit up, but Tony quickly pushed him down.

  
“Not a good idea, kid. We need to have _that_ looked at.” He pointed to where the infection was, which was when Peter realised he was shirtless. The bandages were still wrapped around his torso, but they were thicker and heavier with blood.

  
“What do you m-mean?” Peter managed.

  
“Come on, Peter,” May interjected, “You’ve known all along that things Badly infected, and you’ve go the symptoms for it.”

  
“We’ve got the medical team on their way over now. If we weren’t literally on the other side of the compound, you’d already be at the infirmary.”

  
“N-no… I can’t… but-“

  
“Pete, you _need_ medical attention. A lot of these people have handled Rodgers and Banner before, they’re used to this abnormal stuff. But you can’t leave that.”

  
Peter hesitated, then nodded. He would have protested, but he didn’t have the physical energy to at that moment.

  
“What were you thinking?” Peter blinked his eyes to his aunt, “Why would you hide this from us, from anyone?”

  
Peter had had the intention of seeking some form of help from May, but he knew if he had done it before the party, she wouldn’t have let him go. The same went for Mr. Stark.

  
When they’d first met, Tony would have just stayed out of situations like this. But he felt it wouldn’t have been right to just avoid it, he physically and mentally couldn’t. He thought he would do anything for the kid. As if he were his own.

  
But when Peter passed out right in the middle of the party, everyone had turned to stare in shock. This wasn’t a high school party, there was no one here going to get drunk, at least so early on, just to pass out. And Peter obviously wasn’t the drinking type, despite the fact he wasn’t even of age.

  
Steve and May had already been by his side by the time Tony got there.

  
He knelt down next to May, who seemed to be having a panic attack. They moved him to a separate room and quickly called for medical attention. They had to bring supplies over, so they were going to take a little while.

  
Peter had only been out for twenty minutes, but that was enough to make Tony anxious.  
What had happened? First, his mind thought of all the obvious possibilities. He’d considered it might have been an act, but the irregular beat of Tony’s heart told him that he himself knew this wasn’t an act- hell, Peter would never fake anything like this, even just to escape attention.

  
A sensory overload? Was he dehydrated? He knew Peter never really drank enough. Was he sick? Could he even _get_ sick? With Peter, it could have been anything.

  
May had later hypothesised, once Steve set Peter on the couch, that it could have been from a wound he sustained a few days ago. Once Steve had left the room they had taken off the bandages, and it was pretty obviously the cause. It was swollen and red and rather disgusting.

  
Steve had gone back from to the party to keep things moving and people’s attention away from the mishap.

  
Tony carefully unwrapped the bandages again, “What is this, anyway?” The concern was evident in his voice, and Peter almost winced. Partly because of the sight of the injury, but also because it was so unusual to hear Tony care.

  
“Uh, bullet wound…”

  
A flash of anger passed over Tony’s face, but before he could unleash it, Steve came through the door.

  
“Hey, how is he?”

  
He came around the sofa and saw him awake, and smiled feebly. His eyes drifted to the open infection, and his eyes widened to what Peter thought was an impossible size.

  
“Holy _shi_ -“ Steve stopped himself, “What on earth _is_ that?”

  
Tony knew Steve knew what it was, but rather what such an injury was doing on a child, compared to them, anyway.

  
It did look like a monstrosity. It was so red and swollen, covered in blood, pus and scabs.

  
“ _Language_.” Tony muttered, and Peter laughed lightly.

  
“Tony.“ Steve’s tone was almost threatening, and he didn’t need to say anything else. Tony nodded, but didn’t move. He hoped Steve got the message, later.

  
Tony felt Peter shiver slightly under his touch, and wrapped the bandages back around his waist and draped the thin blanket over him again.

  
Steve took a step back, but he kept his eyes on Peter. He hardly knew who this kid was, how he and Tony knew each other, though he had a pretty sufficient guess on the latter.

  
Peter had closed his eyes, but his breathing was slightly laboured and unsteady, meaning he was awake.

  
Another minute passed in silence until the door swung open and a medical crew came through with a stretcher.

  
Peter began to sit up again, “W-what? I can walk, you don’t have to-“ he immediately stopped when his vision started to blur. May put her hand her shoulder and slowly pushed him back down.

  
“It’s okay, Peter. Just lie down, sweetie.”

  
Peter obliged, not that he had much choice. Steve went back to the party after making sure everything was okay, to let the medical team get to work. But Tony knew that conversation he had been dreading was inevitable. But right now, his attention was on the one and only dumbass, Peter Parker.

  
May moved out of the way as a member of the medical team kneeled by Peter and looked for basic symptoms and statistics. She said she was going to go grab her belongings from the other room, and she’d be back as quickly as possible.

  
Once the nurses were setting up the stretchers, Tony looked at Peter with an unamused expression, “So this was your big plan, huh? Don’t tell anyone about your little infection until you were talking to Captain America, and then pass out?”

  
The teen blushed harshly, “I did, didn’t i?”

  
“Right in front of him…At least he was there to catch you, I was on the other side of the room.” Peter wasn’t sure if there was actually guilt evident in Tony’s voice, or his fevered mind was playing tricks on him.

  
“I’m sorry, kid. I…I should have been with you- no, I shouldn’t have even let you come.”  
 _He was blaming himself_ , Peter realised.

  
“No, M-mr. Stark, I…” he searched for the right words before deciding to just to be blunt, “I’m not letting you take responsibility for this.”

  
“Cute. You thought I was taking responsibility.” But Tony’s eyes said something else, almost as if he was thankful for Peter trying to take a weight off of his shoulders.

  
“Alright, listen Pete, I’m kneeling on the floor for you right now, and,” Tony gestured towards the marble floor, “A man like me shouldn’t be kneeling on a floor like this,” he peered down at said floor, “I take that back, my floors are fantastic and spotless.

  
“Just… you have to tell me when this stuff happens. We have a lot to discuss- what happened, why you didn’t say anything, how on this foresaken earth you hacked that million dollar suit I made for you- The list goes on.”

  
“I’m sorry…”

  
“You bet you are-“

  
“No, Mr. Stark. I mean, I didn’t say anything. And I trust you and May and Ned and I lied…and now I’ve pulled you out of your own party when you should b-be with them, enjoying your time like everyone else and-“

  
“Peter, not at all. Just swear to me; you will always tell me when something is wrong?”

  
Peter held up his hand, “P-pinky promise?”

  
Tony looked at him as if to say, seriously? Grow up, kid, but he obliged anyway.

  
“Pinky promise. Wow, kid.”

  
Peter nor Tony noticed, but May watched from the door, and she recalled what Peter had said to her two days ago,

_  
Pinky promises are only for my favourite people_

  
She smiled to herself.  
Peter was rambling along about something.

  
“Jesus kid, do you ever _shut_ up?” He made eye contact with him, “Kid, I shouldn’t be at that party right now, alright? I need to be with you, Do you know why?”

  
The medical team moved around them and were getting ready to move Peter, but Tony focused on Peter.

  
“Because I care about you, Peter. I care a whole damn lot.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah please tell me what you think on this chapter in the comment section! I have a big Halloween party with my friends and family this weekend, so I don't know when the next chance I'll have to post is, but I will do my best!  
> Thank you for reading!  
> Lannie xxx


End file.
